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APPEAL 

TO THE 

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY 

ON THE 

CONDITION AND PROSPECTS 

OF THE 

NEW-YORK INDIANS, 

IN ANSWER TO A BOOK, ENTITLED 

THE CASE OF THE NEW-YORK INDIANS, 

AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS 

OF THE 

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 



BY 

NATHANIEL T. STRONG, 

A CHIEF OF THE SENECA TRIBE. 
Cf: ''<_ T f ; IV r.- 



N E W - Y O R K : 
E. B. CLAYTON, PRINTER AND STATIONER, 

No. 6 Tontine Bnildings, Wall-slreel . 

M DCCC XLI. 



TO THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC. 



Being a Chief of ihc Seneca Tribe of Indians, and lately 
arrived in this city, my attention has been called to a volume 
composed and widely circulated by the Society of Friends, 
under the title of " The Case of the Seneca Indians, in the 
State of New- York," the avowed design of which is to defeat 
the treaty lately concluded between the United States and the 
New-York Indians, and after mature consideration by the 
president and senate of the United States, constitutionally 
ratified. The charges contained in this book, the proofs in 
support of them, and also the proofs in opposition to them, 
having all been deliberately investigated and passed on by the 
appropriate tribunals of your country, our people, after years 
of suspense and anxiety, considered the question of emigration 
as settled, and they fondly hoped that their rights under the 
treaty, being now secure and inviolable, they might com- 
mence the preparations necessary for their removal, and with 
the kind wishes and encouragement of their white brethren, 
be permitted to enter on the new path which a kind Providence 
had opened for their escape from bondage, degradation, and 
misery, with the cheering hope of enjoying, in the asylum pro- 
vided for them by your government, the blessings of freedom 
and independence. But alas ! as at the outset, so in the pro- 
gress of our journey, we are met by enemies, powerful in 
numbers and discipline, but more dangerous in artifice and 
cunning; disguising their attacks under the false banner of 
friendship and good will, and seeking to withdraw fiom us the 
support even of those who are in reality our friends. Thus we 
see simultaneous movements in different parts of the country, 
ail organized under the same banner, and all urged on by the 



same influence. These are but the sequels of continued 
attempts for two ^'•ears past to control, through the agency of 
public opinion and prejudice, the constitutional action on the 
treaty of the president and senate ; and although (now bind- 
ing both on you and us,) through popular agitation and 
excitement to prevent its execution. I will not stop to discuss 
the propriety of these proceedings, nor their consistency with 
those principles of peace and order professed by the Society 
of Friends; but in regard to this their last publication, I must 
be permitted to say, that its gross abuse, garbled state- 
ments, and repeated misrepresentations, are in my poor judg- 
ment as incompatible with the law of Christian charit}'-, as 
with the rules of candour and fair discussion ; nor can I in 
adequate terms express my surprise, that on an appeal like 
this, to an intelligent community upon a question involving 
the dearest interests of an unfortunate and suffering race of 
beings, coming from a body of Christian men professing to be 
the steady friends of that race, and the faithful advocates of 
their cause, no reasoning should be employed to enhghten the 
public mind on the merits and effects of the treaty as an instru- 
ment to them of good or evil ; and that its beneficent provisions 
in their favour, should be noticed only to condemn and censure 
them, as too liberal and costly on the part of the government. 

In the following remarks, I propose, on behalf of my coun- 
trymen, to notice the prominent objections put forth in this 
volume to the consummation of the treaty, and more especially 
to call your serious and dispassionate attention to the point 
on which I feel pez'suaded that, as Christians and philanthro- 
pists, you will be most disposed to listen to me — our actual 
condition, and the bearing of the treaty on our future welfare 
and happiness. 

The subject of emigration is not new to the New-York 
Indians. The advancing settlements of the whites, more than 
thirty years since admonished them of the necessity of that 
measure, and long before the existence of what is called the 
" Ogden Company," led them, as the result of their own calm 
deliberations, to resolve on securing a seat among their red 



brethren of the west. Being encouraged in these views by the 
then president, their attention was first directed to the acqui- 
sition of a tract on the While River of Indiana, but that tract 
being inchided in a treaty soon afterwards made with the Indian 
occupants b}' the government, that attempt of course failed. 
Subsequenll}', and as early as 1821, it was renewed under the 
like encouragement, and a purchase was then made from the 
Menominee and Winnebago tribes by the Six Nations, the St. 
Regis, Stockbridge, and Munsee tribes, (composing all the 
Indians in this state,) of a tract on the Fox River, empt3'ing into 
Green Bay; which purchase was confirmed by the government, 
and was in the following year greatl}^ enlarged. This acqui- 
sition soon proved to be so important, that the INIenominees, 
under the influence of the white inhabitants of the territory of 
which it then formed a part, were induced to deny the validit}'" 
of the bargain — disputes and bad feeling follow^ed, and before 
these t)ould be alla3''ed the United States purchased from the 
Menominees the most valuable part of this tract. The New- 
York tribes remonstrated against this purchase, and the senate 
after investigating their complaints, in the 3'ear 1832 ratified 
the Menominee treat}", on condition that a tract of -500,000 acres 
should be set apart for the use of the New'-York tribes, to be 
held under the same title b}^ which they held their lands in this 
state. A portion of the Oneidas and the whole of the Stock- 
bridge and Brothertown Indians removed to, and now reside 
on that tract — but the arrangement was not satisfactory to 
others of the New-York tribes, who have been since much 
divided as to the course best for them to pursue, the greater 
portion of the Christian party among the Seneca tribe and 
most of the educated and respectable chiefs, being decidedly 
in favour of emigration. 

Allows me here to digress for a moment, in order to show 
how" little 3'ou can rely on the facts slated in the volume under 
consideration. In page 8 3'ou \^'ill find the following passage : 
'* A purchase of the Green Ba3^ Lands in 1832 had been made 
" by the government for the future residence of the New- York 
" Indians. To the treaty for these lands, made with the Meno- 



^' minees of Wisconsin, the Senecas ivere not a 'party; nor did 
" they desire to Je." This statement is incorrect in all its parts. 
The government made no purchase of lands at Green Bay for 
the future residence of the New- York Indians in 1832, or at 
any other time. The purchase in that year was made for the 
benefit of the United States themselves, and a portion of it (as 
just mentioned) was given up to the New- York Indians on the 
ground of a prior claim under their previous purchase of 1S21, 
from the Menominees and Winnebagos. The Seneca tribe, as 
one of the Six Nations, was a party to the last mentioned pur- 
chase and paid its full proportion of the purchase money. 

For many years past the condition of the Indians generally 
and especially that of the feeble remnants of the once powerful 
nations residing within the old states of the Union, has excited 
the sympathy of the benevolent, and called forth the talents of 
the learned, in devising plans by which to rescue them from 
impending extinction. The subject has by successive presi- 
dents been repeatedly urged upon the attention of congress, 
until at length a well considered system of policy was adopted 
by the national legislature, having for its object the ultimate 
civilization of the whole body of Indians within the United 
States. This system embraces all that seems to be necessary 
to its final success. In a mild and healthful climate, an exten- 
sive territory composed of land easy of cultivation, and par- 
ticularly adapted to the raising of corn, cattle and horses, has 
been set apart for the exclusive and permanent occupation of 
the Indians. Sufficient land is to be granted to them in fee, 
by patent, subject to no pre-emptive I'ight, and by such a tenure 
as to enable the owners to hold and enjoy in severalty — to 
transmit to their posterity, and to sell and dispose of among 
themselves, their respective estates at their own pleasure. 
Ample protection is guarantied to them in their new home, 
and the g^overnment is t^ledo'ed to furnish to them the means of 
elementary education — to provide for their instruction in agri- 
culture and the mechanical trades, and to confer on them the 
privileges and powers of self government. These benign pro- 
visions, together with a just equivalent for the relinquishment 



of the claims of the New- York tribes on the lands at Green 
Bay, form the basis of the treaty which the Society of Friends, 
during its nesotiation and ever since its conclusion, have been 
seeking to defeat by every means which wealth and combina- 
tion, talents and sophistry can furnish. 

The circumstances which led to this treaty being grossly 
misrepresented in the publication under review, it may be 
proper, briefly, to advert to them. 

Within the last twelve years most of the intelligent chiefs of 
the Seneca tribe have been again awakened to the great and 
increasing evils of our condition. We first opened a corres- 
pondence with the government of the United States, imploring 
its aid and protection in resisting the encroachments of the 
unprincipled white men who were overrunning and corrupting 
us. We were told in answer that it was not in the power of the 
government to extend to us the protection required, whilst 
remaining in the state of New- York, and were advised to 
remove to the territory provided for us beyond the Mississippi. 

In 1832 an agent of the government proposed to the chiefs in 
general council to send a delegation to examine that territory, 
and select a portion of it for our future homes. The proposi- 
tion was well received, but was not then accepted. The Sene- 
cas cautiously determined first to send a delegation of three 
chiefs to Washington, headed by Captain Pollard, the father 
and pride of our tribe. The delegation proceeded to Wash- 
ington, had an interview with the president, and became satis- 
fied of his humane intentions. They asked an appropriation 
to defray the expenses of a delegation to explore the Indian 
territory, which was made by congress in 1834. A delega- 
tion of six chiefs, headed by James Stevenson and Seneca 
White went on the territory, and returning in the spring of 
1835 made a unanimous report in favor of the new country. — 
Soon afterwards, some individuals among us became dissatis- 
fied with the report, and we resolved on an application for a 
second appropriation to defray the expenses of another explo- 
ring party, and this was also made. A second delegation hea- 
ded by Little Johnson and White Seneca, visited the country 



ill 1S37 — returned the same year, and by a large majority re- 
ported in its iavour. It now became important to act promptly 
in order to secure the particular tract we deemed most desira- 
ble, and it was accordingly signified to the government that 
the New- York tribes were ready to treat with them. A gene- 
ral council was called in the (all ol'1837 — and here occasion is 
again taken for another attack on the pre-emptive owners. — 
The paragraph last quoted from the case, is followed b}^ this. 
" The Green Bay scheme, however artfully planned, turned 
" out a failure. Years rolled away without its consummation. 
" At length, in the year 1837, under the management of the 
" agents of that (the Ogden) company, as it is generally under- 
" stood the United States government was induced to ap- 
" point a commissioner with the ostensible object of purchasing 
" from the Indians of New- York, the aforesaid Green Bay lands. 
" The real object, however, was to obtain the means and moyiey 
" and influence of tlie government, to assist the said land spec- 
"ulators, in their efforts to obtain the more valuable lands of 
" the Indians, l3'ing in the state of New- York"! 

The manifest object of this and other similar misrepresenta- 
tions is to show that in every movement looking to the removal 
of the New-York Indians they have been passive, and to draw 
from each a new pretext for further abuse and invective against 
the pre-emptive owners. Thus a public treaty, growing out 
of a series of preliminary preparations between the immediate 
parties to it, is referred to the management of a third party, and 
the executive department of the government of the United 
States is held up to its citizens as so far forgetful of its own 
dignity and independence, as under the guise of an " ostensible'^ 
object, to lend its high powers to a set of land speculators, for 
a purpose at once base and fraudulent. 

It was, both on considerations of propriety and necessity, 
incumbent on the war department to notify the pre-emptive 
owners of the intended treaty, and it is to be presumed that 
this was done ; but I am certain that they Ijad no immediate 
agency in bringing about the council, nor in the selection of the 
commissioners appointed to hold it. 



At this council there was ;i. general attendance of the chiefs. 
General Gillet of this state, late one of its represenatives in 
congress, represented the United States, and opened the coun- 
cil by a speech explaining the views of the government. Dr. 
Trowbridge, a most respectable citizen and late mayor of the 
city of Buffalo, (die superiniendent of Massachusetts,) followed 
in a short address, stating that he was sent there by the 
governor of that state to see that justice was done to the 
Indians. 

After the question of removal and the sale of the Seneca 
lands had been debated for several weeks, the commissioner 
gave notice that he would on a certain day submit to the 
council the draft of a treaty, whicli was ])resented accordingly 
with the draft of a conveyance for the Seneca lands ; both 
were read, article by article, to the council and faithfully in- 
terpreted in the presence of several persons acquainted with 
the Indian language ; and I here state, of my own knowledge, 
that both were regularly signed, in general council, by a majo- 
rity of the Seneca chiefs according to the usage of the Six Na- 
tions, each chief signing in his own proper person, except two 
or three who were prevented by sickness from attending and 
who signed b}^ attorney, as was known to all the attending 
chief's. 

The council was closed by short speeches from the commis- 
sioner and superintendent, in which they considered the trea- 
ty as a concluded compact, and no dissent was nttered by a 
single chief on either side. 

Up to this period, there was little interference by white men 
in the deliberations of the council, which were conducted in the 
usual manner; but when the amended treaty came back, the 
scene was changed. The opposition had been organized. No 
particular amendment proposed by the senate was objected to, 
because as is well known to the authors of the "case" the 
provisions of the original treaty in reference to the Seneca 
tribe were left substantially unchanged. The object was to 
defeat the whole treaty. For this purpose the council ground 
was overrun by white men — meetings were called and speeches 
2 



10 

made in opposilion to the treaty. The Senecas were exhorted 
not to sell the lands of their fathers — were told that the govern- 
ment would never redeem their pledges to them — and that if 
they removed they would be destroyed by the wild Indians of 
the west. In short every argument, which could be addressed 
to the fears, the passions and the prejudices of an ignorant 
and suspicious people was made use of". This was done by a 
combination composed of 1st, the dram-sellers — 2d, the lum- 
berers — 3rd, the lessees of mill seats — 4th, the holders of 
hydraulic privileges near Buffalo — 5th, the holders of licences 
to live on tlie Indian lands — Gtli, the missionaries — and 7th, 
the Society of Friends. 

As to the first five of these various classes of Indian advi- 
sers and the motives whicli ax'tuated tliem, it is unnecessary to 
speak. The ground of opposition assigned by the missiona- 
ries (except those of the Baptist denomination, who abstain- 
ed from any interference in the matter,) was, that the treaty 
made no provision for refunding the money expended by the 
Board of Missions in making their different establishments on 
our lands ; whilst on the part of the Qual^ers, it was insisted, 
as is still done, that the New- York Indians possessed in their 
present positions, all requisite advantages and needed no new 
system of policv for their improvement. Their soft speech 
and strong professions of disinterested friendsliip, blended 
with insidious suggestions concerning the sincerity and good 
faith of the oovernment — the validity of its title to the tract of 
country appropriated ' for the new homes of the Indians — the 
insalubrity of that country and the fearful dangers to which 
we should be there exposed, could not fail to produce their in- 
tended effect among the m.ore timid of our people. 

The seeds of distrust and suspicion, discord and strife, thus 
plentifully sown, soon yielded an abundant harvest. The 
anti-emigration party, encouraged by the support of their new 
allies, assumed a bolder attitude. Violence usurped the place 
of reason. Before the amended treaty had been submitted to 
the Indian parties the council house, provided at the public 
expense for their accommodation, was burnt down, and this 



11 

flagrant insult to the president and gross violation of the laws, 
is now noticed in the "case" (p. 11,) as one of the "strong 
marks of disapprobation on the part of the Indians," without 
one expression of regret or animadversion. It was indeed a, 
" strong mark of disapprobation," but one little harmonizing 
with that flattering picture of the present state of our people 
to be found in the same document, (p. 29,) where their march 
of improvement in science and morals, as well as in their ph3'si- 
cal condition, is represented to be " without a parallel in die 
history of our species"! 

In consequence of this outrage, it became necessary to erect 
a new council house ; and whatever may be your indignation, 
you cannot be more surprised than I have been, to read in the 
" case" (p. 11,) an allegation that the object of the commission- 
er in this necessary proceeding, was to "give the land specu- 
lators an opportunity to perfect their scheme of bribery and 
corruption"!! 

In accordance with such a beginning, our once peaceful 
council ground was soon converted into an arena for the dis- 
play of the worst passions of our nature. An organized system 
of intimidation was employed to deter our w^eaker brethren 
from signifying their assent to the amended treaty. Some of 
them were driven by threats of death to the woods and if, as is 
alleged in the " case," runners were employed to bring them 
back to the council house, it was because they were deterred 
by fear from appearing there, and our friends were therefore 
obliged to follow them to their retreats and rally them to the 
independent exercise of their rights. 

In confirmation of these statements, I present to you the fol- 
lowing extracts from that part of the official report of the U. S. 
Commissioner, of the 25th October, 18-3S, which relates to the 
Senecas. (Senate document. No. 7.) 

" Experience having taught me the difliculties resulting from 
" the operations of whites attendant upon any negotiation with 
"this tribe, it was with much reluctance that I made up my 
" mind to undertake the dut}'" of submitting to them the treaty 
" as amended by the senate. But my experience had left me 



12 

' much to learn. It would extfiiid this report to an unrcason- 
' able length to give you a full account of all the obstacles 
' which presented themselves during the negotiation at the late 
' council. I shall give only a portion, from which you can 
' form some idea of the whole. I met this tribe on the 17th of 
' August, in a council house which I had caused to be erected 
' on the reservation, and as very man}^ were absent, at their 
' request I adjourned until the 20th. On returning to the 
' council ground I found my council house had been destroyed 
' by fire, the undoubted work of an incendiary. I soon caused 
' a new one to be erected and I proceeded with the business 
' which I had in charge and fully and fairly explained the 
' treaty and amendments. That I did so, I refer you to a 
' letter from M. B. Pierce, now an opponent to emigration, 
' wdiich is on file in your office. At the first meeting I saw 
' there were very many white men present whose actions and 
' conversations indicated to me that they had purposes of their 
'own to subserve. The Indians as well as white men, all 
' concur in the opinion that the nation must become extinct 
' before many years, unless they emigrate to the west. It 
' seems to be the general expectation that they must ere long 
' remove and all admit that it is best to do so. Still the na- 
' tion is divided on the question of emigration. There is a 
' large and highly respectable and intelligent portion who are 
' the unwavering friends of emigration, whilst another consi- 
' derable portion appears to be inflexible opponents. Several 
'of this portion admit that the apprehension of the loss of po- 
' litical povv^er in the tribe, controls their action. There is a 
' third class who do not appear to have sufficient independence 
' of mind and character to be described as belonging to and 
' acting with either party ; and while the current of their feel- 
' ings seems to be with the emigration party, they are often 
' restrained from action by the threats and compulsion of the 
' opposite party. This class very naturally received the spe- 
' cial attention of those who were really opposed to the treaty, 
' as well as of those who had objects of their own in view in 



13 

" pretending to be opposed, or in assuming to have great power 
" and influence in the tribe. 

Again — 

"John Tall Chief, whose power I witnessed, informed me 
" and the superintendent when he gave the power, that his life 
" was in dnnger, and he dare not sign in council or be seen by 
" the opposition at my room, that he was in favour of the treaty 
" and amendments, and that I must let him sign by power of 
" attorney. He further stated that he must sign whatever the 
"opposition desired him to, that he dared not refuse, that it 
" was all false to say that threats were not used to prevent chiefs 
" from signing; he and others were threatened. I fully be- 
" lieve this account, and have not one particle of douljt that if 
" left free to act, a very large majorit}^ of the nation would free- 
"ly and voluntarily sign the treaty and assent. If white men 
" had kept away, I believe this would have been done soon af- 
" ter opening the council." 

But as it suits the Society of Friends, and does not interfere 
with their notions of propriety, to vilify the character and im- 
peach the fidelity of this public functionary, I turn to the testi- 
mony of General Dearborn the superintendent of Massachu- 
setts, who was sent from Boston to attend the second council 
and who appeares so to have discharged the duties of his 
office as to have escaped even the censure of the Friends ; 
of his official report to Governor Everett, (Senate document, 
No. 9,) the following is an extract. 

"Intimidation has been extensively used by the leaders and 
" iheir partisans in the opposition, for the purpose of defeating 
"the wishes of those who are desirious of removing to the 
" west. The commissioner was informed by the chiefs of the 
" Tuscaroras, that threats had been sent to them from the To- 
" nawanda Reservation to deter them from ratifying the trea- 
"ty." 

With this brief outline of the means employed by the white 
advisers of the opposition party to prevent the Seneca Indians 
from assenting to the amended treaty, I proceed to examine the 
complaints of the Friends in respect to the number of chiefs 



14 

who assented to it and the mode in which their assents were 
obtained. 

The whole number of chiefs is variousl}^ stated in the affida- 
vits presented to the senate by the opponents of the treaty — 
that of Big Kettle, the late great leader of the anti-emigration 
party, declaring it to be 50 — (iSenate document, No. 5,) — others 
stating it more — others less. The contradictory affidavits on 
this subject were all submitted to the senate, but are not 
adverted to in the " case," nor is it deemed convenient to 
allude in it, to the ignorance on the part o\^ chiefs of the number 
of those to whom is committed the government of the nation ; 
a deoree of ignorance which furnishes a sine-ular illustration of" 
the i-a.pid improvement and general intelligence of the Seneca 
tribe alleged b}' their kind eulogists. 

It seems now to be admitted ("case" p. 12,) that there were 
81 acknowledged chiefs, and that of these, (p. 16,) 42 signed 
the treaty. It is true that in the paragraph which precedes the 
last of these admissions — the titles of three of the 42, viz. : John 
Hutchinson, Charles Greybeard, and Charles F. Pearce to the 
office of chiefs, are denied ; but their titles were fully establish- 
ed, and no proof is offered to disprove them, nor are they ques- 
tioned even by the opposition chiefs. Israel Jameson their 
present and most prominent leader, since charged with the dis- 
tribution of moneys appropriated by the Seneca nation for the 
exclusive use of the regular chiefs, having paid to these very in- 
dividuals, in that character, their full proportions. The money 
passed through my hands and I vouch for the truth of this state- 
ment. 

lam reluctant by further details, to add to the unavoidable 
length of this address, and shall therefore refer, on this point 
of numbers, to one other document onl}^ — the president's mes- 
sage to the senate of 21 January, 1839, stating as an uncon- 
tested fact, that 42 out of SI chiefs had assented to the amen- 
ded treaty. The message is short, and I here transcribe it. 

" To the senate of the United States — I transmit a treaty ne- 
" sfotiated with the New- York Indians, which was submitted 
" to your body in June last and amended. The amendments 



15 

" have, in pursuance of the requirements of the senate, been 
" submitted to each of the tribes assembled in council, for their 
" free and voluntary assent or dissent thereto. In respect to 
" all the tribes except the Senecas, the result of this application 
" has been entirely satisfactory. It will be seen by tlie accora- 
" panying papers, that of this tri!.)e the most important of those 
"concerned, the assent of only Ibrty-two out of eight3'-one 
"chiefs has been obtained. 1 deem It advisable, under these 
"circumstances, to submit the treaty in its modified form, to 
" the senate for its advice in regard to the sufHciency of the as- 
" sent of the Senecas to the amendments proposed. 

M. VAN BUREN." 

It is obvious from this language that the president whilst 
satisfied that a numerical majority of the chiefs had signed the 
amended treaty, was still desirous, in a case which had produ- 
ced so much excitement, to obtain an expression of the opinion 
of the senate in regard to the sufficiency of an assent depend- 
ing on a single voice. That circumstance however was not 
deemed material, and by a resolution of the senate passed 2d 
March 18-39, the matter w'os again referred to the president for 
the exercise of the powers conferred on him by tlie original re- 
solution of the 11 .June preceding. 

With a view to further information and, as is understood, in 
compliance with the wishes of the Society of Friends, the sec- 
retary of war visited the Senecas in August 1839, and held 
with them a council. It was an open one and numerously at- 
tended by the Indians and their respective friends and parti- 
sans, and among others, as the case informs us, by three com- 
mittees of as many distinct branches of the Quaker Society. — 
The secretary in his address to the council, told them that " he 
was sent by the president to confer with them — ascertain their 
objections to the treaty and listen to every thing they had to 
say on the subject." Talks were delivered by a chief of each 
party, but these consisted of little more than mutual crimination 
and tended to throw no new light on the subject. All parties 
were patiently heard and the council, after sitting two days, 



16 

was adjourned. Tlie Friends now complain that the secretary 
lost sight of the object of his mission in not again laying before 
the council the amended treaty, for its assent or dissent. What 
would have been the secretary's opinion as to the expediency 
of such a proceeding, I do not know, but it is somewhat strange 
that these ever vigilant committees, if assured that a majority 
of chiefs were indeed opposed to the treaty, did not propose or 
suggest such a test of relative numbers. 

Between the adjournment of this last council and the meet- 
ing of congress, new affidavits were procured and further delay 
asked by the Friends in the promulgation of the treaty. The 
request was granted ; additional documents were submitted to 
the senate by another message on the 13th January, 1840, 
which message is quoted (p. 10,) to prove the president's under- 
standing that the senate resolution of the 11th June, 1838, 
required the assents to be given in open council. Now what- 
ever may then have been the individual views of the president 
on that point, it is very clear that the resolution of the senate 
contained no such requisition. It provided that the amended 
treaty should be submitted and fully and fairly explained by a 
commissioner of the United States to each of the tribes sepa- 
rately assembled in open council, and that it should be freely 
and voluntarily assented to ; but it no where directs that it 
should be so assented to, in open council. In fact it is distinctly 
stated in the commissioner's first report, that the signatures of 
some of the chiefs to the original treaty were given out of the 
council, and that no chief objected to it as irregular. That 
report was printed — was before the senate when they ratified 
the original treaty, and by that act, this form of proceeding was 
virtually recognised and approved. 

The circumstance referred to in the speech of Senator 
Wright, that on the passing of this resolution, an amendment 
was proposed, requiring in terms that the assents should he given 
in open council, and its rejection, sets at rest all question as to the 
intention of the senate in this resolution. 

Again it is alleged (p. 14,) that the commissioner took lodgings 
at a private hotel — that runners were hired to bring in the 



17 

chiefs — spirituous liquors employed to intoxicate them — false 
representations to deceive them — threats to intimidate them — 
and vain hopes to allure them. 

As to such of these vague charges as have not been already 
noticed, I shall merely ask attention to the final reports of the 
commissioner and superintendent. 

On the 30th October, 1S3S, the following instructions were 
communicated by the department to the commissioner : (Senate 
document, No. 5.) 

^' War Department — Office Indian Affairs, 
October 30th, 1S3S. 
" Sir, 

" Your report and the treaty with the New- York 
" Indians assented to as amended in the senate of the United 
" States, have been submitted to the Secretary of War. He 
" is of opinion that the consent of a majority of all the Seneca 
" chiefs must be obtained, but that as you have heretofore met 
" the requirement of the senate by full explanations to them in 
" council, you may proceed to the Seneca Reservation and 
" there obtain the assent of such Indians as have not hereto- 
*' fore given it, 

"You are accordingly authorized and requested, at your 
*' earliest convenience, to proceed to the Seneca Reservation 
" in New-York and carry out the above views. Your service 
" among these people qualifies you fully for the discharge of 
" this duty, and gives assurance of its fair, honest and capable 
" performance. 

" Very respectfully, &:c. 

" T. Hartley Crawford." 
" Hon. R. H. GiLLET, 

" Now at Washinofton." 



'O' 



The commissioner, in the official report of his proceedings, 
under these instructions dated 11th January, 1839, (Senate 
document, No. 8,) thus expresses himself: 

" You have heretofore received a full report of all that 
3 



18 

" transpired prior to your instructions of the 30th October last. 
" On the receipt of those instructions I repaired to Buffalo, 
" New- York, for the purpose of carr3'ing them into effect. On 
*' my arrival there I was joined by General H. A. S. Dearborn, 
"the superintendent appointed b}' the Governor of Massachu- 
" setts, who continued with nie until the close of my visit there. 
"He was present and witnessed every signature to the assent, 
" except one which was taken wliile he was confined to his 
" room by indisposition. Soon after my ariival at Buffalo T 
"directed the United States sub-agent resident there, to give 
" public notice to the Seneca chiefs that T was present and 
" authorized to receive the signatures of such of their chiefs as 
" desired to give them, and that the superintendent from Mas- 
" sachusetts was also present to discharge the duties assigned 
" him by the authorities of his state." 

Again, after stating the number of signatures, he states — 
" To these forty one names may be added that of James Shon- 
" go, who signed the assent attached to the printed copy of the 
" treaty now in your possession making in all forty-two names, 
" being a majority of three — without the name of James Shon- 
"go there is a majority of one." 

" In every instance where a signature was received, either 
" General Dearborn or I distinctly inquired of the person offer- 
" ing to sign whether he fully undorstoo;! the s'al)ject and wheth- 
" er he freely and voluntarily signed the assent. In each case 
" a distinct affirmative answer was given." 

General Dearborn in his report to Governor Everett dated 2d 
January 18-39, (Senate document. No. 10,) says, 

" A list of the names of the chiefs who have given their as- 
" sent is annexed, marked D. They all signed in my presence 
" in person or by attorney, except John Snow w^ho aflfixed his 
"name on the Buffalo Creek Reservation and I being at the 
" time confined to my bed by sickness, was unable to attend ; 
" but it was done in the presence of the commissioner, the In- 
" dian agent, James Stevenson one of the oldest and most re- 
" spectable of the chiefs belonging to the christian pg:rt.y and 
" Muses Stevenson a son of the above named chief." 



19 

" The assent of John Bark and Sky Carrier was given by 
" powers of attorney copies of which are annexed marked E. 
'• F. and G., and the reasons ilierein stated why they did not 
" appear in person." 

" I invariably asked each of the chiefs, in the presence of all 
" the persons present, whether they were perfectly satisfied 
" with the treaty and the contract for the sale of their right of 
" possession to the lands on which they resided and willingly 
" and freely come forward to sign the treaty, and the^'^ all an- 
" swered in the affirmative." On this branch of the case and 
also on that relating to the manner of receiving the assents, I 
quote the following remarks from the speech of a very distin- 
guished senator : 

*' Without discussing the question whether it was the intention 
" of the senate that the assents should be given in council or 
" whether the language of its resolution required that construc- 
" tion, all must admit that but one object was to be accom- 
" plished, viz : the ' free and voluntary assent' of each separate 
" tribe or band to the amended treaty. Now if the senate 
" pointed out one particular place or manner for expressing 
" those assents, and the Indians chose another place or man- 
" ner for making the same expression, will it be contended that 
" the treaty should fail rather than the lorms required by the • 
" senate should not be complied with, whilst the substance of 
" their requisition has been met by the ' free and voluntary 
" assent' of a majority of the chiefs." And the same senator 
in another place adds that although " hitherto he had argued 
" the question of the execution of this treaty upon the admission 
" that the assent of a majority of all the Seneca chiefs of every 
" grade, was necessary to its validity, this was an admission 
" which he did not make except for the sake of the argument, 
" because it was a position in the soundness of which he did not 
" believe. So far as his acquaintance extended it was a new 
" principle connected with the making of Indian treaties by this 
" or the state governments ; and he believed also that it was 
" new to the laws and customs of the Indians themselves." 

I now pass to the consideration of the remaining charge, im- 



20 

peaching the validity of the assents to the amended treat}^ — 
viz. : the employment of bribery to obtain them. 

I would remark preliminarily that this charge refers to trans- 
actions connected vntlt the negotiation of, and all prior to, the original 
treaty — that the charge and all the documents in support of it 
were spread before the senate — and that this body, hy ^unayii- 
moiis vote, ratified the treaty as amended, and authorized the 
president to proclaim it whenever he should be satisfied that, 
as amended, it had been assented to by the Indian parties. 
Assent was the only act remaining to be complied with in order 
to give full effect to the amended treaty, all other objections 
and among them the charge of bribery, being finally disposed 
of by the concurring voice of a body which white men and In- 
dians have been accustomed to regard as the most august and 
dignified of your nation — and which the Friends in their letter to 
Mr. Sivier descibe as " the highest tribunal on earth, whether 
"considered in relaticjn to its moral standing or to the intellec- 
" tual power concentrated in its body." 

Let me ask what is the meaning of the term bribery as ap- 
plied to Indians ? If a right to personal gratuities be ihe privi- 
lege of chiefs according to the general and well understood 
usage of Indian communities, then the acceptance of them, 
being consistent with official fidelity, in^'olves no violation of 
duty, and the payment of them is not bribery. Now, accord- 
ing to the unbroken custom v/hich has prevailed among the 
Senecas since the first sale of their extensive possessions in 
this state, the chiefs have demanded and received personal 
allowances. This custom was acted on at the treaty of 1797, 
between Robert Morris and that tribe, held by the late dis- 
tinguished Colonel Jeremiah VVadsworlh as commissioner of 
the United States, and by a highly respectable superintendent 
of Massachusetts — annuities for life were then oranted to all 
the principal chiefs of that day and secured by the purchase 
of public government stocks. Corn-planter, Farmer's Bro- 
ther, Red Jacket and many others were of the number, and 
to the first of these great men no less than two hundred and 
fifty dollars per annum was granted for his life that of his 



21 

wife and those of his eight children, several of whom are 
still in the enjoyment of it. At the treaty of 1826 the same 
usage prevailed. Red Jacket, who opposed the treaty and 
could claim no allowance, was persuaded, as the opposition 
chiefs now are, to proceed to Washington and on this same 
charge to contest the validity of the treat3\ Then, as now, 
the usages of our people were referred to, and there was no 
interference on the part of the government. At the council 
held by the secretary in August 1839, the fact of personal 
allowances to chiefs was referred to by the orator of the oppo- 
sition party and stigmatized by the epithet of bribery; on 
which a leading chief on the other side, rose in his place and 
in the face of the assembled tribes, avowed and justified ihe 
practise as one founded on ancient and well-understood usage; 
and after expressing his surprise that such a complaint should 
come from such a quarter, pointed with scorn to several chiefs 
on the opposition benches whe were then in the receipt of per- 
sonal annuities under the treaty of 1826. This usage is not 
peculiar to any one tribe : it is common, as I understand, to 
all, and (as is universally understood) the government of the 
United States in their Indian negotiations are compelled to 
conform to it. Nor is the usage of modern origin. At the 
earlier periods of the settlement of this country, presents, as 
they were then called, were freely distributed among the 
chiefs. At this day, and especially among tribes whose con- 
stant intercourse with white men has taught them that money 
is the surest means of purchasing both luxuries and comforts 
— when the increased value of their lands enhances their offi- 
cial importance and busy white advisers are ready to stimu- 
late their cupidity, it is not strange that the chiefs should be 
disposed to make the most of their official perquisites. The 
difference in practice between the pre-emptive owners of the 
present time, and those of the time of Penn and other colo- 
nists is, that what then passed under the name o^ presents is 
now termed bribery: that the chiefs were content then to 
receive blankets and cloths, gay calicoes and glittering bau- 
bles and trinkets, whereas now they demand more substan- 



22 

tial allowances in money. In principle there is no difference 
either as to the giver or receivers of personal gratuities. 

With us the chiefs act for the nation in the sale of their 
land, and if the nation are satisfied with the price, there is no 
complaint on account of any further benefits that the chiefs 
can secure for themselves. 

I am thus brought to inquire whether or not we have been 
defi-auded in the sale of our lands. In page 2 of the book 
the authors say that our lands are estimated to be worth from 
two to three millions of dollars, adding in their accustomed 
tone of abuse, that this was " a temptation too great to be resist- 
"ed by the consideration that justice, mercy, truth and fair- 
"ness must all be trampled under foot before the prize could 
" be obtained !" This envenomed arrow shot from the bow 
of the meek and gentle Quaker, is levelled at a set of gentle- 
men whose reputation cannot be affected by my praise or cen- 
sure — as little can it be affected, in the state of New-York, by 
such foul aspersions ; nor where they are unknown, can the 
use of such a weapon fail to suggest to every white man 
acquainted with the ordinary proprieties of society, that a 
cause requiring for its support effusions of passion and 
malevolence must needs be a weak one. As to the estimate, 
I mio[ht say that I know enouoh of land in the nei2;hbourhood 
of our reservations to justify me in declaring that it is grossly 
exaggerated ; but the question, as concerns our people, relates 
not to the value of the land as a subject of sale among white 
men, but to the value of the possessory title which we have 
sold to the pre-emptive owners. Now it is quite certain that 
in addition to what the treaty secures to us from the United 
States, we are to receive from the pre-emptive owners on this 
sale of less than 115,000 acres, more than double the amount 
paid to our nation by Robert Morris upon a sale to him of 
more than four millions of acres ! and if I am rightly 
informed, vastly more than Penn paid to the Pennsylvania 
Indians for their title to the whole of that fine territory ! and I 
am informed also that the late sales of the Holland Land 
Company of their large tracts in the Genesee Country were 



23 

made (as to the unimproved lands) at prices little, if at all, 
exceeding that which we are to receive, although their sales 
embraced both the Indian and the jpre-cmjptive titles. 

As to tlie general character of" the whole bargain, hear what 
General Dearborn says in his report to Governor Everett. — 
(Senate document, No. 9.) 

" Not an objection or complaint has been made by a single 
"Indian during the whole progress of the council, as to the 
" price obtained for the right of possession, and I have not 
"seen an individual, other than the persons above named, 
" who does not think the offer of the government, a most gen- 
" erous and favourable one for the Indians." 

" The same liberal terms which have been offered to these 
"Indians, if extended to any county in New-England, would 
"nearly depopulate it in six months." 

The opinions of man}' other intelligent white men to the 
same effect might be mentioned, but it would be a superfluous 
tax on your patience, and 1 shall on this point therefore, 
refer only to those of the Quakers themselves, as expressed in 
their memorial to your house of representatives. The object 
of this memorial is to induce the house to withhold any appro- 
priation for carrying the treaty into effect, on the ground that 
although by the constitution of the United States the treaty- 
making power is vested in the president and senate, yet as 
another part of the same constitution requires the concurrence 
of both houses of congress in drawing money from the treasu- 
ry, it thus enables the liouse to controj^nd nullify treaties. — 
Applying this new doctrine to the present treaty, the memo- 
rial proceeds (p. 50,) as follows : " There is one feature in the 
"character of this negotiation with the New- York Indians, 
"which we think ought to claim the particular attention of 
" your body as the guardians of the public treasure. By that 
"treaty, four hundred thousand dollars of the public money, 
"and one million eight hundred and twenty-four thousand 
" acres of the public limds are to be given to the New- York In- 
" dians, as an inducement to relinquish their possessions in the 
" state of New- York, for the benefit of the Ogden land compa- 



24 

*' ny. To your memorialists it appears that under this treaty 
" the government gives away a vast amount of property with- 
^^ out any equivalent! It may well be asked what advantage 
"can accrue to the public from the removal of the New-York 
"Indians? As regards the people of the United States, un- 
" der whose authority the treaty is said to be made, and from 
" whose resources the means to carry it into effect are to be 
" drawn, it may safely be answered, none! In a national point 
"of view, it is a matter of perfect indifference whether the 
" New-York Indians remove or do not remove ! Why then 
"should our representatives appropriate such a vast amount 
" of money and property to an object in which the community 
" has no interest ?" You will recollect that the complaint 
lately noticed was, that the New- York Indians obtained too 
little for relinquishing their possessions in this state, and you 
perceive that the complaint now is, that we obtain too much, 
and that to swell the balance against us, the Green Bay tract 
containing 435,000 acres, relinquished by the treaty to the 
United States, (constituting no inconsiderable set-off against 
their concessions to the Indians,) is entirely omitted in the ac- 
count ! 

But I pass over that omission, and call your attention to 
this memorial, as being a deliberate and recorded avowal of 
the opinions and feelings of the congregated "committees of 
" the four yearly meetings of Genesee, New- York, Philadel- 
" phia and Baltimore, in the concern of those meetings for the 
" welfare of the nati|«e5 of our country." Consider these 
opinions and feelings. — In the exercise of a liberal but tardy 
act of mercy and justice, the representatives of a rich and 
powerful nation have been pleased to make a liberal provision 
to carry out a great and humane system of policy by which to 
rescue our perishing race from moral and physical ruin — our 
removal from the currupting influences of associations with 
the white population by whom we are surrounded, being an 
essential part of that system. In their memorial to congress, 
we find these delegated advocates of the Indian cause cen- 
suring the munificence of these provisions^-coldly casting 



25 

up their amount, weighing in a miser's scale, the result of their 
sordid calculations against our temporal and eternal welfare, 
and seeking in an appeal to the guardians of the public purse, 
to win their co-operation by an assertion that " in a national 
point of view, it is a matter of perfect indifference whether the 
New-York Indians remove or do not remove," and that this 
" is an object in which the community have no interest"!!! 
If such be your views on this momentous subject — li' your minds 
are made up to oppose any plan for our salvation, not founded on 
the dogmas of the Society of Friends, then indeed it is in vain 
that I address myself to your understandings or your sympa- 
thies. 

In reviewing a work whose object seems rather to inflame 
the passions than to call into action the powers of the under- 
standing — -to excite prejudice rather than to elicit truth, it is 
not easy to distinguish between passages too plausible to be 
entirely overlooked, and others too absurd to need the least 
notice. 

The statements of the " case" respecting the treaties of 
guaranty between the general government and the New- York 
Indians, and the notable " census'^ taken under the authority of 
the delegates of the three yearly meetings of Friends, belong 
to the one or the other of these classes. 

As to the first — there is no Indian of any pretension to infor- 
mation, who does not understand, that whilst the general go- 
vernment are pledged, as is that of the state, to protect the In- 
dian tribes from lawless violence, neither, the general or state 
governments can enlarge their rights of propeAy in the land 
they occupy, nor diminish the rights of the pre-emptive own- 
ers. These guaranties therefore, in relation to the validity of 
the late treaty, amount to nothing. 

As to the last — what does this pretended "census" amount 
to .'* The Quakers send emissaries, upon their own represen- 
tations of the dangers and privations incident to a proposed 
emigration to the distant regions of the west, to collect the 
suffrages of men, women and children on that measure — of men 
too ignorant to appreciate its advantages, and of women and 
4 



26 

children equally ignorant, bat more easily alarmed by well 
told tales of horror and hardship ; and this species of farce^ 
devised and got up by the "delegates of three yearly meet- 
ings," is dignified by the name of a " census.^'' 

The parade of affidavits procured by similar means from 
people more than " j4ths" of whom are wholly unacquainted 
with the nature and solemnities of an oath, would seem to me 
to deserve no greater attention than the "census," except as 
evincing the extraordinary means resorted to by a religious 
society professedly opposed in principle to this form of ap- 
peal to the Supreme Being, and generally most uncompromi- 
sing in maintaining their scruples. 

I now turn in the further examination of this angry and most 
uncandid appeal of the Society of Friends, to the contempla- 
tion of the present condition and prospects of the New- York 
Indians, and to a calm consideration of the means by which, 
under the gracious providence of the common Father of 
all, we, the most hapless branch of the human family, can be 
raised to the rank which you, his more favoured children, have 
so long enjoyed, and made to participate in those rich bless- 
ings which have been so bountifully bestowed on you. 

The ground has been broken in the book I have been re- 
viewing, but the authors have done no more than to betray 
their entire ignorance of the subject in all its essential princi- 
ples. 

This is an inquiry worthy, not only of the profound atten- 
tion of the philanthropist, but demanding an exercise of the 
highest faculties of the christian ; for so far as a sound and op- 
erative faith in the great truths of the gospel, may be requisite 
to bring the heathen within the pale of salvation, this inquiry 
has reference not only to our temporal, but our eternal destiny. 

These considerations whilst stimulating my feeble exertions, 
will I hope secure for me your dispassionate attention. 

In discussing the theory of civilization we are met at the 
threshhold, by the fact, that every attempt which has hitherto 
been made, whether by legislators or religionists, to produce a 
radical and enduring change in the manners, habits and pur- 
suits of Indian communities, has proved utterly abortive. 



27 

This fact, whilst shewing the inherent difficulties of the pro- 
blem, points to the propriety of applying for its solution to the 
master spirits of the age, and of ceasing to rely on the crude 
systems of conceited visionaries and heated fanatics, who, 
content with the use of mere palliatives, never look to the 
source of the disease. Such master spirits have at length ap- 
proached the subject, and guided by their lights and the infor- 
mation I have been able to collect in the course of my educa- 
tion and subsequent associations with some of the better clas- 
ses of white society, I am fully persuaded, as I think must be 
every intelligent man who dismissing preconceived opinions 
will devote the powers of his mind to the subject, that the true 
cause of the failure of past efforts to improve the condition of 
Indians, is the disabilities under which they labour in respect 
to those rights and privileges of person and property, which 
are the common inheritance of white men. 

The aborigines of this continent, from their first intercourse 
with the nations of Europe, have been the victims of that most 
unjust principle of colonization upon which the government 
of each nation first discovering any particular portion of this 
vast country, assumed over it an unqualified dominion, both 
as to soil and inhabitants. Upon this principle, the extensive 
regions claimed to have been discovered by British subjects 
were parcelled out into colonies and granted to them or to 
individuals, in fee simple — a title carrying with it the power of 
alienation to all other subjects, and leaving to the Indian 
occupants, a mere right of possession which the holders of 
the government title (hence called the pre-emptive owners) 
were alone authorized to purchase. Such is the title under 
which the provinces and colonies forming the older states of 
this union were settled, and such the title under which Wil- 
liam Penn came from England to Pennsylvania, as proprieta- 
ry governor, to reap the benefit of his grant of that whole colo- 
ny from Charles II. I find from his biography that this dis- 
tinguished man, whilst in England and before his celebrated 
treaty with the native Indian occupants, sold portions of his 
vast territory to his fellow subjects of the British king, and 



28 

that they accompanied him on his voyage to America, where 
measures were promptly taken to extinguish the Indian right. 
Neither Penn or his followers, were stigmatized by the Quakers 
of tliat day, as unprincipled " land sjiecidators,^^ nor was it then 
asserted as is done in the fifth page of the " case," that the 
pre-emptive title, " vests no right" in the holders of it until the 
*' Indians are disposed to sell," and gives no power over Indian 
lands " more than that which any citizen of the United States 
" has over the land owned by his neighbour." If this be so, 
then a very large share of the abuse and opprobrium now 
lavished on the Ogden company, might have been bestowed 
on Penn and those who purchased under him, and would 
have been equally merited by each. 

The rights of Great Britain and her colonies which passed 
by the revolution to the states of this union, have since been 
asserted and exercised by them, in their fullest extent. We 
Indians thus hold our lands by a title comparatively worthless, 
and as to personal rights, are placed under restrictions equally 
severe and humiliating. We are shut out from all political 
privileges, and in the country of our birth, are regarded as 
aliens, being not only deprived of the control of our own lands 
but incapacitated from acquiring and holding any other, even 
by purchase from white men ! Thus oppressed and degra- 
ded, we find ourselves surrounded by white settlements, where 
a comparison between the condition and privileges of the two 
populations, would alone be sufficient to check the aspirings 
and subdue the energies of every intelligent member of our 
community, even were he not compelled further to witness 
the demoralizing eflfects of this proximity to the more ignorant 
and numerous portion of our people. These, constantly asso- 
ciating with corresponding classes among the inhabitants of 
the contiguous towns and cities, acquire only their vices. In 
the face of legal prohibitions and penalties, white men of such 
classes are always ready to contract with individual Indians 
for the cultivation of their cleared lands on shares, and to pur- 
chase from them a vague license to cut and remove the valu- 
able timber still to be found in our forests ; and although cheat- 



29 

ed and over-reached in all these transactions, the poor Indian 
(after a fruitful harvest) is enabled to draw from them the means 
of a scanty subsistence, with such small supplies of money 
and credit as suffice to gratify his propensity to idleness and 
his thirst for ardent spirits, but when, as often happens, the 
corn crop fails, he is thrown a mendicant on the bounty of his 
white neighbours for the necessaries of life. 

Among our young women the baneful effects of the inter- 
mixture of the two populations, are still more striking in the 
general prevalence of that foul disease incident to the indis- 
criminate intercourse which they maintain with the youths of 
the neighbouring towns and cities, a scourge which, in the elo- 
quent and touching language of one of the senators in dis- 
cussing the merits of the treaty, " unknown to the natives 
" until the white man was known — is sweeping over this small 
"remnant of the once proud Seneca nation, sowing the seeds 
"of a slow and miserable and lingering death around the 
"germs of life." 

There are many moral, industrious and intelligent men 
among the New-York tribes, but their general condition is 
such as I have described, one of abject poverty, ignorance 
and degradation. We are referred in one of the Quaker 
memorials (p. 29 of" case,") to the condition of the people of 
Great Britain at the time of the Roman invasion. Bear with 
me whilst I quote and briefly comment on the whole of this 
paragraph, which appears to me to involve some fundamen- 
tal principles of great importance to my countrymen. 

(P. 29.) " Under former administrations it was a favourable 
"policy of the government to promote the civilization of the 
" Indians, and large sums were appropriated for that purpose. 
" But many of our fellow citizens now entertain the senti- 
" ment, and we have no doubt sincerely, that the Indian is an 
" untameable savage, made for the wilderness and only capa- 
"ble of subsisting in a state of nature. We think the senti- 
" ment is erroneous — that circumstances only make the differ- 
" ence between them and the white men. Our ancestors in 
" the island of Great Britain when the polished Romans inva- 



30 

" cled their territory, were as savage as the natives of our own 
*' country at the planting of the first colony in Virginia ; they 
" painted their bodies and clothed themselves in skins. Cen- 
" turies rolled away ; the example of a civilized state with all 
*' its advantages was before them, and yet they remained near- 
" ly as barbarous as when first visited by a Caesar. Six hun- 
" dred years after the invasion, they were far less improved 
" in the arts of civilized life, than are our Indians after the 
" lapse of one fourth part of that time. In the Seneca nation, 
" the march of improvement in science and morals as well as 
'* in their physical condition, is perhaps without a parallel in 
" the history of our species. It is true, much is yet to be 
" accomplished — but the lights of experience shine on our 
" path — the facilities of intercourse are astonishingly multi- 
" plied — and nothing, we think, is wanting to the consumma- 
" tion of our wishes for the complete civilization of the New- 
" York Indians, but a faithful application of the means which 
" a benevolent Providence has put into our hands or placed 
" within our reach." 

I am no antiquarian, and shall not question the historical 
accuracy of the facts here assumed, but let it be admitted, for 
the sake of the argument, that the inhabitants of Great Britain 
*' were for 600 years far less improved in the arts of civilized 
" life, than are our Indians after the lapse of one fourth part 
" of that time" — what is the practical inference to be deduced 
from this fact .'' 

In our " march of improvement in science and morals" 150 
years have brought us to our present condition i whether, as 
viewed by the Society of Friends, it be one of hope and encour- 
agement, or, as viewed by others and by ourselves, one of 
utter despair — whether our march now, be onward or retro- 
grade, all will agree that it ought to be onward, and that " much 
is yet to be accomplished." What then, are the means to be 
employed for carrying us on in our journey to that point which 
the Britons and their descendants in this country now occupy, 
and can they be successfully applied to us, under the circum- 
stances which belong to and are inseparable from, our present 



31 

position ? Opening our eyes to the " lights of experience" 
which " shine on our path," we shall find that more, much 
more, than " multiplying the facilities of intercourse" is needed 
for the desired consummation. 

The rights of property are the very basis of the political 
institutions of Great Britain, and of all the freedom and all 
the advancement in the arts, which that country now enjoys. 
In reviewing her history it will be seen, that precisely as the 
rights of property were secured and respected, in the very 
same ratio, did the civilization of the nation increase. 

When Henry the 7th permitted his nobles to alienate their 
lands, he is said to have added greatly to the respectability 
of the lower orders by enabling them to become the purcha- 
sers of estates. A gradual approximation of the different 
classes of society followed, whilst the division of land among 
many proprietors produced that wholesome competition of 
small interests which, in a commercial and agricultural coun- 
try, is essential to the general weal. 

In tracing the subsequent history of a nation who up to that 
period, (nearly 1500 years after the birth of Christ and the 
invasion of Great Britain by the Romans) remained compa- 
ratively barbarous, we find that the capacity to acquire and 
hold individual property, and the power to transfer it, at 
pleasure, and transmit it by will, were essential elements of 
civilization. These, in fact, are the grand cement of society — 
without them no man ever achieved any really useful enter- 
prise, or ever steadfastly devoted the active powers of mind or 
body to the accomplishment of any great and praiseworthy 
object. Without them, no nation has become, or ever can 
become, truly civilized. 

Now if the condition of our people be such as I have repre- 
sented — without the capacity to take or hold lands (otherwise 
than by mere occupation) or to dispose of them — shut out 
from all civil and political rights — a distinct and degraded 
and despised class of society, it is impossible to apply to us, 
whilst thus circumstanced, those means of civilization which 
were so successfully employed among your ancestors in Gieat 



32 

Britain. But what, let me ask, are those other mesins referred to 
in the paragraph just quoted " which a benevolent Providence 
has put into your hands or placed within your reach," by the 
" faithful application" of which, we are to become civilized ? 
Your legislatures may, within another 150 years, admit us into 
your political family, but they cannot give us an effectual title 
to land which already belongs to others, nor can they shelter 
us from those influences which are taking from us the few 
virtues of the manly savage, and giving us in exchange the 
lowest vices of the most profligate of your white men, and 
spreading among our people the seeds of a loathsome disease, 
are polluting the very fountains of life. 

To tell us then what white men have been, and what, under 
the operation of means which are denied to us, they 7ioiv are, 
is a mockery of our distress, and an insult to your under- 
standings. 

If proofs were required as to the practical effects of the dis- 
abilities under which we labour, they are to be found in the 
lavSt 50 years of our history with which many of you must be 
familiar. Within this period, you have seen that the wide 
wilderness of the Genesee Country, and the still wider wil- 
derness of the west, have been made " to blossom as the 
rose." The most needy of your people, planting themselves 
every where among the forests, have been able by their own 
exertions, to provide a comfortable subsistence for their fami- 
lies, establish schools, erect churches, build up villages and 
cities and acquire wealth and consideration, whilst the 
New- York Indians, with the " example of a civilized state 
with all its advantages" continually before them — possessed 
of better lands, enjoying the benefit of missionaries and 
teachers and all the aids of active benevolence, have in the 
great work of civilization, achieved nothing to justify a hope 
that, whilst deprived of the incentives and rewards which 
animate the freeman, they can ever be more successful. 

The general views here expressed, seem to me to find strong 
support in those of the senators friendly to the treaty, whose 
speeches have been given to the public. For this reason, and 



33 

for the purpose also of making this address in some degree 
instrumental in rescuing from unmerited opprobrium, the cha- 
racters of gentlemen whom I have every reason to esteem, 
and who have been most wantonly calumniated throughout the 
publication under consideration, and at the same time of con- 
firming the general accuracy of my own statements on several 
points in which they conflict with those to be found in that 
publication, I take leave to present the following extracts, 
necessarily omitting from their great length, those elaborate 
and conclusive arguments upon the question agitated in the 
senate not less than in the " case," as to the validity of the 
Indian assents to the amended treaty. 

Governor Lumpkix — " When I consider the moral degra- 
*' dation of these Indians and reflect that they cannot escape 
" from the destruction attendant on their continuance in their 
" present abodes, I cannot estimate the importance of immortal 
" beings by dollars and cents ; I cannot be altogether strict in 
"my inquiry, as to the propriety of the United States incur- 
" ring some expenditure in an object so essential to the prescr- 
*' vation of these people. The president of the United States 
" informs you in his message that this treaty presents the only 
*' prospect for the preservation of these people. He says, 
" 'surrounded as they are, by all the influences which work their 
" destruction, by temptations they cannot resist and artifices 
" they cannot counteract, they are rapidly declining,' and 'that 
" where they are, they must soon become extinct.' And sir, 
" this statement of the president is fully sustained by both the 
*' senators from New- York, as well as by General Dearborn 
"and Mr. Gillett and every other gentleman with whom I 
" have conversed, who is acquainted with the present and 
*' true condition of these people. And yet sir, we find persons 
"professing all that is benevolent, pious and good, who are 
" unwilling to let these people go. This treaty is truly recom- 
" mended by the liberality of its provisions to the Indians, it 
"gives them 1,824,000 acres of land in the Indian territory 
" west, and the sum of $400,000 for their removal and subsis- 
" tence, for education and agricultural purposes, the erection 
6 



34 

" of mills and other necessary buildings and the promotion of 
" the mechanic arts, besides some minor but advantageous 
" provisions. In exchange, the government obtains 435,000 
"acres of the best lands near Green Bay, lying on Fox River 
" and near the best port in Wisconsin. This land is said to 
" be in demand and disconnects the white settlements which 
" are already made in that country. The public interest 
" would be greatly promoted by the early settlement of this 
" 435,000 acres of land with a white population ; and if it 
" could be brought into market, no doubt is entertained of its 
•' being readily sold and speedily settled by an industrious 
" and enterprising population. At the government price (and 
" it is believed that most of it would sell for more,) it would 
" not only reimburse the treasury for the necessary appropria- 
" tion to carry out the treaty, but it would exceed it by one 
*' hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Indeed it is believed 
'* that the demand upon the treasury to carry out the treaty 
*' might be supplied from these lands." 

— " A territory west of the Mississippi has been procured 
"and sacredly set apart by this government, amply suJfEcient 
" for the location of all the remnant tribes of Indians which 
" may be found remaining in all the states and territories of 
" this union. It is the settled wish and policy of the govern- 
" ment thus to locate those Indians. And sir, if these poor 
" perishing people were entirely destitute of all the necessary 
" means to contribute to their own comfort and settlement in 
" the slightest degree, the duty would become in that case, the 
" more imperative upon the government to provide for them. 

" The government has assumed the parental, guardian care 
" of the aboriginal race, and its duty and honour require that 
" it should at all times stand ready and prepared to render a 
" satisfactory account of its stewardship, to a civilized and 
" Christian world. The wise and enlightened policy of col- 
" lecting, removing and settling these remnant tribes in per- 
" manent homes in the West, and thereby relieve the states 
" altogether of this perplexing encumbrance, and at the same 
" time make a last and honest effort to save from extinction a 



36 

*' remnant of the native race, has always had my warmest sup- 
" port and approbation. — The plan was first brought to my 
" special notice by observing its recommendation by Mr. Jef- 
" ferson, and it has since been recommended and sustained, 
" more or less, by all his successors. Mr. Monroe most ear- 
" nestly recommended to congress eflScient action to carry out 
" this plan of emigrating the Indians from the states, and set- 
" thng them permanently in the West. The then secretary 
" of war, Mr. Calhoun, sustained the views of the president 
" in a very able report on the subject. 

— " The history of its progress and success is known to the 
" senate and the country. And sir, I consider it now, as I have 
•' done from the beginning, one of the most important measures 
" connected with the history and character of our beloved 
" country. 

— " Shortly after the close of the revolutionary war the Six 
" Nations of Indians of New- York became convinced that the 
" increase of the white settlements around them would make 
" it necessary for them to seek a new home in the West ; and 
" in a council held by these people, as early as 1810, they 
*' resolved and did send a memorial to a president of the 
" United States inquiring whether the government would 
*' consent to their leaving their habitations, and their removing 
" into the neighbourhood of their western brethren ; and if 
" they could procure a home there by gift or purchase, v/hether 
" the government would acknowledge their title to the lands 
'• so obtained, in the same manner it had acknowledged it in 
" those from whom they might receive it ; and further whether 
*' the existing treaties would in such a case, remain in full 
" force and their annuities be paid as heretofore. The pre- 
•' sident answered by saying their request should he granted; 
" and under this approbation the treaty of 1821 between the 
*' New- York and Menominee Indians to which I have before 
" adverted, was made and concluded. 

— " It has clearly and obviously become our duty to act in 
" this matter. Does not the interest of New- York require that 
*' we should act in this matter ? The answer is found in the 



" following language from the president of the United States 
" in his message on this subject. 

" ' The removal of the New- York Indians is not only impor- 
" tant to the tribes themselves, but to an interesting portion of 
" Western New-York, and especially to the growing city 
" of Buffalo which is surrounded by lands occupied by the 
*' Senecas ; and to this portion of the country, the extraordi- 
" nary spectacle is presented of densely populated and highly 
" improved settlements inhabited by industrious, moral and 
" respectable citizens, divided by a wilderness, on one side of 
" which is a city of more than 20,000 souls, whose advan- 
" tageous position in every other i-espect and great com- 
" mercial prospects, would insure its rapid increase in popu- 
" lation and wealth, if not retarded by the circumstance of a 
" naturally fertile district remaining a barren waste in its im- 
" mediate vicinity.' 

" And sir, what does the president say in regard to those 
" persons who are entitled to the reversionary rights of these 
" lands. His language is 

" ' Neither does it appear just to those who are entitled to 
" the fee simple of the land and who have paid part of the 
" purchase money, that they should suffer from the waste 
" which is constantly committed upon their reversionary 
" rights, and the great deterioration of the land consequent 
'• upon such depredations, without any corresponding advan- 
" tage to the Indian occupants.' 

" In and out of the senate, sir, I have found persons strongly 
" opposed to this treaty because they seem to think it confers 
" special favours on the individuals known as the pie-emp- 
" tioners. These individuals seem to be viewed in the light 
" of speculators who are endeavouring to defraud the Indians 
" out of their lands. Now sir, nothing, so far as I can disco- 
" ver, can be more unjust towards those injured individuals. 
" The quotation which I have given from the president's mes- 
" sage, as well as the reports of General Dearborn and Mr. 
" Gillelt the United States commissioner, together with all the 
" mass of documentary evidence which we have printed on 



37 

" this subject ; yes sir, all go to establish the merit, good cha- 
*' racter, hberal conduct and fair dealing of these pre-emp- 
" tioners. 

— " That the pre-emptive owners of these lands should 
*' be desirous to hasten the time of going into possession of 
" their just rights, is altogether natural, right and proper. They 
" neither claim or desire any advantage which has not been 
" fairly derived from the State of Massachusetts. 

— " Why should I then dwell longer on this branch of the 
*' subject. For sir, it is obvious to every one, that if the execu- 
"tion of this treaty be beneficial to all the parties concerned, 
*' its rejection will consequently be prejudicial to all. Let me 
" then turn to another consideration connected with this treaty, 
" by asking the question — do these Indians wish to be remo- 
" ved ? This question is answered in the most satisfactory 
" manner, by an attentive examination and consideration of 
" the actings and doing of these Indians for the last thirty 
*' years. Their various efforts, with but little aid and encou- 
" ragement from any governmental influence, either state or 
" federal, sustain the belief that they are unhappy — very 
" dissatisfied with their present abode, and are truly anxious 
" to emigrate to the west. 

" Mr. Gillett and General Dearborn both declare themselves 
" to be perfectly satisfied, that were it not for the unremitted 
" and disingenuous exertions of a certain number of white 
" men, who are actuated by their private interests, to induce 
" the chiefs not to assent to the treaty, it would immediately 
"have been approved by an iminmse majority — an opinion, 
" which we find repeatedly reiterated by these gentlemen. — 
" The president of the United States expresses the opinion, 
*' that the same influence which was exerted in opposition to 
" the treaty, if exerted with equal zeal on the other side, would 
*' shew a large majority of these Indians in favour of emigra- 
" tion. And from the first commencement of the negotiation, 
" we discover the interference of white men assuming the 
" character of friends to the Indians, strenuously opposing 
" this negotiation and greatly retarding its conclusion. — 



38 

" Indeed it appears that every art was employed to defeat 
*' the objects of the government in effecting a treaty. The 
"country beyond the Mississippi was declared to be unpro- 
*' ductive and the climate unhealthy. The prospect held out 
" by the government to the Indians was declared to be delu- 
" sive and deceptive; and in case of removal, they were told 
" they might look forward to wars, privations and sufferings." 

— " That an actual majority have assented to the amended 
*' treaty, seems no longer to admit of a doubt. The official 
"and personal standing of Mr. Gillett and General Dearborn 
" who have certified the fact, settles this question. I consider 
"this question as heretofore settled by the action of the sen- 
" ate. 

" In respect to the mode of assent, I consider it altogether 
" immaterial. The fact of assent I consider a matter of evi- 
^^ dence, and in the present case that evidence is to my mind 
" entirely satisfactory. That the chiefs who have subscribed 
"this treaty, did so voluntarily and understandingly, is at- 
" tested by General Dearborn and Mr. Gillett, whose testi- 
" mony is unimpeached and I believe unimpeachable." 

— " I doubt sir, whether the whole history of our country 
" affords a solitary instance of an Indian treaty which will 
" bear the test of comparison with this much abused treaty, 
" for fairness, liberality, honest execution, and requirements 
" approaching to similar transactions when conducted between 
" equal and civilized nations. But sir, I would emphatically 
" ask, what is the history of Indian treaties from the first dis- 
" covery of this continent up to the present day ? When and 
" where have we required that more than a majority of Indian 
" chiefs should sign a treaty in open council, to give it validity ? 
" When have we required higher evidence than that of Gen- 
" eral Dearborn and Mr. Gillett, in respect to the number, 
" character and authority of Indian chiefship to a treaty f 

" The history and origin of Indian treaty-making in this 

" continent down to the present time, I consider one of the 

" unpleasant if not painful recollections, to the high-minded 

* American citizen. In the early settlement of the country, 



39 

" our ancestors effected by artifice, in the form of Indian trea- 
" ties, what they were unable to effect by force. This treaty- 
•• making system, originating in physical weakness, pretended 
*' and appeared to do nothing in acquiring the Indian lands, 
*' except b}^ obtaining the voluntary assent of the Indians. — 
*' Yes sir, even tinder the government of that good man William 
" Penn, we fijid the same statute which mode it a crime for any citi- 
** zen to furnish the hidian loith intoxicating drinJc of any hind, 
" nevertheless allowed the commissioners of the govcrnmerit to admin- 
" ister a prudent "portion of intoxicating drink to Indians with whom 
*' they wished to form a treaty. But sir, I forbear to enter further 
" upon the history of Indian treaties. This much I will say: 
" if any gentleman will take the time and labour which I have 
" done to investigate this subject, he will rise from the task 
" fully satisfied that the treaty under consideration, is one 
*' among the most fair and honourable transactions of the kinc 
" which is to be found on our recorded history as a people. 

" I will now ask, Mr. President, how can any senator ex- 
*' pect to put the negotiations of an Indian treaty upon the 
"principles and footing of similar transactions with civilized 
*' enlightened foreign nations ? Are not these Indians in a 
" state of dependence and pupilage ? Are not we in the place 
" of parents and guardians to them ? Shall we then overlook 
" all the facts connected with the subject under consideration ^ 
** Shall we imagine a state of things which we know has no 
" existence ^ Has not all the diflficulty in regard to this treaty 
*' been produced by interested white men ^ Is not every 
" charge of fraud urged against this treaty, refuted by the fact 
"of the liberal and beneficent terms of this instrument r A 
" charge of fraud cannot be well sustained against a transac- 
" tion which confers great benefits and no injury whatever. 

" Allow me sir once more in conclusion of my remarks, to 
" advert to the bearing of the question now pending before 
" the senate on the destiny and lasting interest of this remnant 
" of the aboriginal race. To me sir, these people are a pecu- 
" liar and interesting portion of the human family. I consider 
" them human beings. I wish to treat them as such. I can- 



40 

" not in my conscience assign them a place halfway between 
" man and beast. I wish to save them from destruction. 
" Hence I urge their speedy removal from the degraded and 
" demoralizing situation in which we now find them. Their 
" unrestrained intercourse with the licentious portion of the 
" populous cities and villages by which they are surrounded, 
" is prejudicial alike to the Indian and white population. 
" Deprived as these people are, of the right to acquire and hold 
'* property in severalty, they are destitute of those incentives 
" to industry and frugality which animate and reward every 
" white man in our happy country. Being debarred all poli- 
" tical rights, they naturally consider themselves a proscribed 
" and debased race ; and the individual exceptions of worth 
" and intelligence among them, v/hilst it serves to evince their 
"capability for improvement under more favourable circum- 
" stances and to become a civilized people, will not however 
" shield them from becoming a nation of vagabonds and pau- 
" pers, in their present abodes. During forty years they have 
" made no perceptible advance in the arts of civilized life, so 
" that it is impossible longer to resist the conviction, that their 
" preservation from increasing misery and ultimate extinction, 
" can only be found in their separation from the white popu- 
" lation, and by conferring on them rights and privileges which, 
" in all countries where they are enjoyed, have been gradu- 
" ally found to lead to civilization and to prepare the way for 
" the introduction of Christianity with all its happy influences. 

Senator Wrig-ht after expressing his deep conviction of the 
benefits, present and future, which would be conferred by the 
treaty on the Indians, and that a just and rational sympathy 
for this perishing remnant of a once mighty savage confede- 
racy prevailed much more strongly in favour of the treaty than 
any motives of individual or associated interest; and after pre- 
mising 

— " That he should enter upon the discussion with a full 
*' and perfect understanding, assented to upon all sides of the 
" senate, that the character and standing and credit of the 



41 

" commissioner who negotiated the treaty on the part of the 
" United States, remained unimpeached and unimpeachable, 
" and that his statements of facts were to be imphcitly relied 
" on in all matters touching the execution of the treaty by the 
" Indians." (To which position, as the reporter adds, the 
chairman of the committee and all the dissenting members 
assented,) and after premising also " That the commissioner 
" on the part of the State of Massachusetts, General H. A. S. 
" Dearborn, was present at all the transactions the validity of 
" which are now in dispute, and is a respectable, credible and 
" disinterested witness to every fact to which he gives testi- 
" mony," presents the following summary of the provisions of 
the treaty : 

" Article 1 cedes to the United States the lands of the New, 
" York Indians, at Green Bay, not otherwise disposed of, com- 
" puted at 435,000 acres. 

" Article 2 secures to these Indians a country in the Indian 
"territory west of the Mississippi, equal to 320 acres of land 
" for each soul ; the whole computed at 1,824,000 acres. 

*' Article 15 stipulates to pay to the Indians from the trea- 
" sury of the United States $400,000 — ' to aid them in removing 
" to their new homes, and support themselves the first year 
*' after their removal;' to encourage and assist them in edu- 
" cation and being taught to cultivate their lands ; in erecting 
*' mills and other necessary houses ; in purchasing domestic 
" animals and farming utensils, and acquiring a knowledge of 
** mechanic arts." 

As connected with this branch of the subject he next adverts 
to the two separate treaties ; one between the Seneca band 
of Indians and the Pre-emptive Company ; the other between 
the Tuscarora band and the same parties, the first conveying 
to the company the ordinary Indian title of possession and 
occupation in all the remaining lands of the Senecas within 
the State of New- York, consisting of four reservations, con- 
taining together 114,869 acres for the consideration of 202,000 
dollars, and then proceeds as follows : 

" The original treaty which forms the basis of this discus- 
6 



42 

" sion, was concluded between the New- York Indians and the 
" United States on the 15th day of January 1838. About the 
" due execution of that treaty by the Indians, there has not 
" been, and is not, any question. It was presented to all the 
" bands convened in a common council and was assented to 
" by all, to the satisfaction of the senate. 

" That treaty thus made on the part of these bands, was sub- 
" sequently and during the annual session of the senate of 
" 1837-38, transmitted to this body for its ratification by the 
" president of the United States, in the usual form of transact- 
" ing such business. It was referred to the proper committee 
*' of the senate for examination and advisement. The com- 
" mittee found many of its provisions objectionable to them 
" from being too vague, and presenting too uncertain a respon- 
" sibility on the part of this government. The removal of the 
" Indians, their subsistence for one year — the erection of mills, 
*' school-houses, blacksmith shops, churches and many other 
" expenditures were stipulated, without any amount stated as 
" the maximum of expenditure to which the treasury of the 
" United States might be subjected. The committee as he 
" understood at the time and now believes, referred these 
" matters of ordinary expenditure to the head of the Indian 
" bureau for an estimate of the amount of moneys required to 
" meet them, and framed their 15th article of the amended 
*' treaty upon the estimate returned from that officer ; thus 
" giving for the objects enumerated in that article, the full 
" amount of that estimate, but limiting the amount which could 
" be called for to the $400,000 therein stipulated to be paid, 
" that being the amount estimated. 

" There were other articles in the original treaty stipula- 
" ting for the payment of gratuities to individual Indians by 
" name, providing funds for a university and the like, which 
" the committee wholly rejected without proposing any equi- 
" valent. 

" Thus an amended treaty was formed by the Committee 
" on Indian Affairs of the senate and reported to this body 
" for its acceptance, which met with its unanimous concur- 



43 

" rence. It was ratified on the 11th June 1838, and returned 
" to the Indians for their assent with a special resolution, 
" which has laid the foundation for the present controversy. 

" It is proper here to remark that the resolutions of the 
" senate of the 11th June 1838, were a complete ratification 
" of the amended treaty on its part — that the instrument in 
" all its parts, was thus made perfect so far as the constitu- 
" tional action of this body in the formation of a treaty was 
" concerned, and that the only thing which remained to be 
" done, was the giving the requisite assent by the several 
" bands of Indians according to the resolutions for that pur- 
" pose which the senate adopted. That resolution was made 
" part of the proceedings of ratification on the part of the 
" senate, was upon its face to be adopted by a vote of two 
" thirds of the senators present, and was therefore, if met by 
" the Indians with the assent required, the final close of our 
" action on the subject of the treat}^, in our executive charac- 
" ter. 

The senator then proceeds to give a detailed history of all 
the subsequent proceedings, showing that the only question 
then presented for the consideration of the senate was, whether 
in point of fact, the Seneca band of Indians had given their 
assent to the amended treaty in conformity with the spirit and 
intent of the resolution of ratification of the 11th June 1838 ; 
and after discussing this question at great length and with 
masterly ability, he concludes his speech with the following 
condensed view of the whole subject : 

" Hitherto he had argued the question of the execution of 
" this treaty upon the admission that the assent of a majority 
" of the Seneca chiefs of every grade, was necessary to its 
*' validity. This was an admission which he did not make 
" except for the sake of the argument, because it was a posi- 
" tion in the soundness of which he did not believe. So far 
*' as his acquaintance extended, it was a new principle con- 
" nected with the making of Indian treaties by this or the state 
" governments ; and he believed also that it was new to the 
" laws and customs of the Indians themselves. 



44 

" He would call the attention of the senate to two short ex- 
" tracts from the report of General Dearborn of the 2d Janu- 
" ary 1839, which would enable him to express his opinion 
*' upon this point in an intelligible manner. The first extract 
"is as follows : 

"'There are eight clans or families in each of the tribes 
"of the Six Nations, which are designated by the names of 
" Beaver, Turtle, Wolf, Bear, Snipe, Deer Hawk, and White 
" Crane or Heron. It is expressly prohibited by a law of the 
" tribes for persons of the same clan to intermarry ; and it is 
" considered as immoral and irreligious as would be an union 
" within the forbidden limits of consanguinity among the Jews 
" and christians ; and I have been assured that an instance of 
"such matrimonial connexion would be considered by the 
" humblest Indian a wicked and monstrous indecency, and has 
" never been known.' 

" The second is as follows : 

" 'There are eight great sachems of the tribe in the Seneca 
' Nation of Indians who are also chiefs. It is the highest title 
' and rank, and the office is hereditary like that of the other 
' chiefs. The present sachems are Little Johnson, Daniel 
' Two Guns, Captain Pollard, James Stevenson, and George 
' Linsley of the BufTalo Creek Band, Captain Strong and Blue 
' Eyes of the Cattaraugus Reservation, and Jemmy John of 
' Tonnawanda, six of ivhom have signed the treaty. Half of 

* them are christians and the others pagans.' 

" Now if the agent had been more particular he would 
' undoubtedly have told us, that of these eight sachems or 
' principal chiefs, one belonged to each of the eight families 
' or clans of which he had before spoken, and the S3'^mbolical 
' names of each of which he had given. He would have 
' learned that they were the great fathers of the nation, the 
' civil chiefs upon whom the transaction of the business of the 
' nation is devolved ; and he, Mr. W., did not doubt that had 
' this treaty been negotiated with the state of New- York, the 
' signature of a majority of these sachems would have been 

* held sufficient to have constituted it a valid treaty, and that 



45 

" any other signatures of chiefs of a lower grade, would have 
*' been considered a mere matter of personal gratification and 
" not of essential substance. He had therefore no doubt upon 
"his own mind that the concurrence of six of these sachems 
*' in this amended treaty, was of itself, a valid execution of it 
" according to the laws and customs of the Seneca Nation. 

" Still he had argued the question upon the other hypothesis, 
" because an examination of the papers had satisfied him that 
" a majority of all the chiefs of all grades, had given an assent 
" which the senate must consider satisfactory. 

" He would now consider as briefly as he might, the pecu- 
" niary interests of the various parties to this treat3% and 

" First. The interest of the state of Massachusetts. 

" According to his understanding of the matter, that state 
" had now no pecuniary interest whatever in these questions. 
" The charters granted by the crown of Great Britain to the 
*' colonies of Massachusetts and New- York conflicted as to 
*' boundaries, and both colonies claimed the territory west of 
" a meridian line passing through or near the Seneca Lake, 
" and within the present limits of the state of New- York. By 
" an amicable adjustment between the two states in the year 
*' 1786, Massachusetts released to New York the sovereignty 
*' and governmental control over the territory, and New-York 
" surrendered to Massachusetts the right of soil, subject to the 
"Indian title, and the right to extinguish the Indian title in 
" her own way. Not many years after this period Massa- 
*' chusetts sold to private individuals her pre-emption right to 
" the whole country, reserving that power of guardianship 
*' over the Indians which the old states have ever exercised 
*' within their limits, and which the United States have exer- 
" cised without the limits of the states, and within those limits, 
" where the right of pre-emption from the Indians belonged to 
*' this government. In this way and for this reason it is, that 
•' Massachusetts has been represented in all the transactions 
" with the Seneca and Tuscarora Indians in relation to this 
" treaty, the reservations of these lands being within the limits 
*' of her original right of pre-emption ; but since the sale from 



46 

" her to individuals under whom the present pre-emption 
" company hold, he did not understand that the state had any 
"other interest than the duty remaining upon her as a govern- 
" ment, to see that the rights of the Indians were fairly and 
" faithfully protected. 

" Second. The interests of the pre-emption company 

" The interests of this company would be seen from what 
*' had been said in relation to the connection of the state of 
"Massachusetts with this matter. As purchasers from that 
" state, they hold the exclusive right to extinguish the Indian 
" title whenever the Indians shall be induced to surrender the 
"possession and occupancy of the lands. By virtue of that 
" right they have already extinguished the Indian title to an 
" extensive and fertile country, and the present treaty proposes 
" to complete the operation by the extinguishment of that title 
" to all which remains, being about 116,000 acres. 

" The interests of this company are direct and palpable. — 
" The purchase from Massachusetts was made in 1796 or 1797, 
" and so far as these lands are concerned, the purchase money 
" paid to that state has been unproductive capital to the 
" company, from that day to the present time. It is abun- 
" dantly shewn too, that the present reservations are constantly 
"becoming less valuable by being stripped of their timber, 
" which in their natural state, constituted the chief value of 
" two or three of them. This consideration renders it a mat- 
" ter of direct interest to the company to extinguish the Indian 
" title and obtain the actual possession at the earliest practi- 
" cable day. 

" As much has been said of the vast speculation which this 
" company would make by the ratification of this treaty, he 
" had taken some pains to form an opinion upon that point, 
" and had therefore endeavoured to ascertain what had been 
" paid to the state of Massachusetts for the right to extinguish 
" the Indian title. As nearly as he could learn from the docu- 
" ments which had come within his reach, about three hun- 
"dred thousand pounds New-England currency, equal to 
" about $1,200,000 had been paid for the whole purchase, and 



47 

" that somewhere from four to five millions of acres of land 
"were covered by the purchase. He therefore concluded 
'* that the price paid to Massachusetts for the right of pre- 
" emption from the Indians, say in 1797, must have been 
*' somewhere from twenty-five to thirty cents per acre. He 
"had not taken the pains to make a calculation to see what, 
" at a fair rate of investment, that price would bring the cost 
" of the land to at this period, but when added to the $212,000 
" or thereabouts now to be paid, and the gratuities which have 
" been, and are to be given in case the treaty be finally ratified, 
" he had satisfied himself that the speculation of the company 
" would be much less than had been imagined, and that a 
" prudent man who had the money, would pause before he 
" would take the property off their hands at principal, interest 
" and costs. 

*' Still the interests of this company were nothing to him. 
" It was not their advantage which he felt called upon to 
" consult, or which induced him to urge the ratification of the 
" treaty. As constituents of his, as he believed most of them 
" were, and as highly respectable individuals so far as he 
" knew them, he would, as far as lay in his power, do them jus- 
" tice upon this as upon all occasions, but he would not urge 
" this treaty upon the senate to the detriment of the Indians 
" because this company might be benefited by its ratification, 
'• as he certainly would not vote for its rejection, to the detri- 
*' ment of the Indians, for fear this company might profit from 
"its operation. 

" Third. The interests of the state of New- York and her 
" citizens. 

" The state, as such, had no interest in this question separate 
" from the interests of the citizens to be affected by the con- 
" tinuance or removal of the Indians. The extent of these 
" interests would be best shewn by brief statistical state- 
" ments. 

" The Senecas are scattered through the six counties of 
" Allegany, Cataraugus, Chatauque, Erie, Genesee and 
" Orleans. This band of Indians together with the Onondagas 



48 

" and Cayugas who reside with them upon their reservations 
"number 2,623 souls, and the white population of the coun- 
" ties in which they are, as shewn by the state census of 1835, 
" was 244,144 souls. 

" The Onondagas at Onondaga, number 300 souls and are 
" in the county of their name which had at the same period a 
"white population of 60,908 souls. 

" The Oncidas at Oneida, are 620 souls, and are in the 
"county of their name with a white population of 77,518 
" souls. 

" The American party of the St. Regis number 350 souls, 
" and are in the counties of St. Lawrence and Franklin with 
" a white population of 54,548 souls. 

" The Tuscaroras number 273 souls and are in the county 
" of Niagara which has a white population of 24,490 souls. 

" The Stockb ridges, Munsees and Brothertowns so far as 
" thev remain in New- York, are scattered amona: the other 
" ba,nds and number together 709 souls. 

" Thus it will be seen that all these bands and remnants of 
" tribes of nations are scattered through eleven counties of the 
" state ; that they number altogether 4,885 souls, and that the 
" white population of the counties in which they are, was in 
"1835, as shewn by the state census, 461,608 souls, or almost 
" 100 whites to one Indian. 

"From this it will be seen that nothing like apprehension 
" from the presence of these Indians can be felt by the whites ; 
" that the inconvenience of the reservations to the white settle- 
" ments; in many cases, the desire to bring into profitable settle- 
" ment and cultivation the lands they occupy, and the inju- 
" rious effects upon society, in all cases and with both races, 
" of familiar intercourse between them, are the prominent 
" interests which the citizens and state of New-York have in 
" the ratification of this treaty. To the city and town of 
" Buffiilo immediately bordering upon one of the largest and 
" most populous of the Seneca Reservations, and the city and 
" town containing a white population of full 20,000 souls, this 
" question was one of more deep and pervading interest, as it 



49 

"was also, properly considered, to the Indians residing upon 

" that Reservation. But he believed he should be justified by 

" the fact if he were to say, that even in the counties where 

" these Indians are, the strong feeling for their preservation 

" from the accumulated evils which surround them and which 

*' it is seen are rapidly producing their extinction, creates a 

" deeper interest with the whites for their removal to the Indian 

*' country, than any considerations of convenience or property 

"anticipated from the accomplishment of that object. 

^'■Fourth. The interests of the United States. 

" Much of the debate had turned upon this point, and he 

' was bound to confess that he thought it the strongest ground 

' upon which the treaty could be resisted. Yet he hoped to 

' show that even this ground of resistance was not well taken ; 

' and for that purpose he would recur to the facts in the case 

' touching the national treasury. 

" He had before remarked that the small sums to be 
' paid to the various bands amounted to about twenty thou- 
' sand dollars, and that the general payment stipulated to be 

* made to all the bands in a proportion, jpcr capita, as they 

* should remove west, was four hundred thousand dollars. — 

* These payments together, would be about four hundred and 
'twenty thousand dollars, but of the whole sum he did not 
' believe an amount exceeding ten thousand dollars would be 
'called for during the present year. Such was the condition 
' of all these Indians, that he did not suppose it possible that 
' any considerable proportion of them, if even a single Indian, 
' could remove after this advanced period of the spring, and 
'after the appropriations under the treaty could be made. — 
'Of the sums payable to the various bands, he recollected 
'but one sum of one thousand dollars to the St. Regis, which 
' was payable before removal, and that sum was not required 
' to be paid until the expiration of one year from the final 
' ratification of the treaty. The immediate demand upon the 
' treasury therefore, was not to alarm any one ; but the ulti- 

* mate payment was considerable : and how was the treasury 
' to be compensated for it ? This was the essential inquiry 



50 

" and if it could be satisfactorily answered, he hoped this objec- 
"tion to the treaty would be considered obviated. 

" The answer then was, that the first article of the treaty 
" cedes to the United States the tract of land owned by these 
" bands of Indians at Green Bay in the territory of Wiscon- 
" sin, being 435,000 acres. At the present minimum price of 
" the Government for the public domain, this land will bring 
" into the treasury $543,750 ; while its location upon the Fox 
" river and its quality are said to give it peculiar prominence 
" and to insure its instant sale for immediate settlement. He 
" thought it therefore fair to anticipate in case of a prompt sur- 
" vey and sale, that this land would bring into the treasury all 
*' the money required to carry the treaty into effect, as soon 
" and as rapidly as it would be wanted, and would afford a 
" surplus more than equal to the expenses of the survey and 
*' sale. 

" To this extent therefore no argument against the treaty 
'* was to be drawn from the demands it would create upon 
" the public treasury. Another argument had been used how- 
" ever having the same tendency, which required examination. 
" It was that the country stipulated to be given to these In- 
" dians west, was more than an equivalent for their Green Bay 
" lands, inasmuch as three hundred and twenty acres for each 
" soul, was given in lieu of one hundred. 

" The answer to this was, that the country west was a part 
*' of that great country west of the States, which the United 
" States, in the prosecution of a wise and humane policy to- 
" wards the remaining Indian tribes, have set apart for their 
" permanent and peaceful and undisturbed homes ; and for 
" the appropriation of which forever to that object, the faith 
" of the nation has been most solemnly pledged. It was 
" wholly immaterial therefore in a pecuniary sense, what In- 
" dians should occupy any particular portion of the territory. 
" The whole was set apart for Indian occupancy ; and in no 
*' treaty heretofore made with any Indians in the Union with 
" a view to their removal to the Indian country west of the 
" Mississippi, had the value of that portion of the country to 



51 

" be assigned to them, been taken into the account or made 
" a matter of estimate in the purchase from them of their pos- 
" sessions within the States. This country had been set apart 
" from the extensive domain of the Union as a home for the 
" red men, whom the cupidity of the whites had driven from 
"the homes and hunting grounds of their fathers, and many 
" of whom had not for this cause hke many of these remnants 
" of bands j-'et lingering in New York, any country to ex- 
" change for that quiet home thus offered to them. Thepoli- 
" cy therefore had been to purchase their possessions and pay 
" the estimated value of them, independently of the new 
*' country to be assigned to them ; and he believed, if the trea- 
*' ties were carefully examined, it would further appear that 
*' the expenses of their removal, and their subsistence for one 
" year at their new homes, had been paid from the public trea- 
" sury, over and above the value of the lands purchased from 
" them. Not so in this case. The value of the lands purcha- 
" sed was not problematical. They were already in the mid- 
" die of a settled and rapidly settling country. Their quality 
*' was well known, and their location of the most desirable 
" character, and yet at the minimum price of the Government 
" lands, they would bring more than a hundred thousand dol- 
" lars beyond every sum to be paid under the provisions of the 
" treaty. Na}^, they would bring into the treasury more money 
" than was to be paid under the treaty and the cost to the 
"United States of the country given to the Indians, west, be- 
" sides. 

" Was this treaty to be rejected on account of its unfavoura- 
"ble influence upon the pecuniary interests of the United 
" States ? He trusted not. 

" There was another view of this point which would place 
"the interests of the United States in a very different light. 
" It was admitted on all hands, that the treaty had been as- 
" sented to, and was perfect and binding as to all the bands 
" except the Senecas. It had been before seen that the Green 
" Bay lands were the property of the New- York Indians gen- 
" erally and equally. A portion of those lands, equal to sixty- 



52 

" five thousand acres, had been by a late treaty, granted in se- 
" veralty to that portion of the Oneidas now at Green Bay; 
" and they had ceased to be any longer parties to this treaty. 
" The quantity of land remaining was four hundred and thir- 
" ty-five thousand acres, the common property of all the bands, 
" this portion of the Oneidas only excepted. The population 
" of all the bands as given in the schedule annexed to the 
" treaty and forming part of it, was five thousand four hundred 
" and eighty-five souls. Deduct the Oneidas at Green Bay, 
" six hundred souls, and there would remain a population of 
" four thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, owning the four 
" hundred and thirty-five thousand acres of land. Of this 
"population, the Senecas and the Onondagas and Cayugas 
*' residing upon their reservations, numbered two thousand six 
" hundred and thirty-three. These taken from the four thou- 
'- sand eight hundred and eight3^-five would leave two thousand 
"two hundred and fifty-two, as to whom the treaty was ad- 
" mitted to be ratified and perfect. Now the right of all these 
"Indians in the Green Bay lands, is a common, undivided 
" right ; and if therefore the treaty be not confirmed as to the 
" Senecas, the United States will be the owner of the two 
" thousand two hundred and fifty-two shares in common with 
" the Senecas, who will remain the owners of the two thou- 
" sand six hundred and thirty-three shares, the whole being in 
" common and undivided ; and the common interests of all the 
" proprietors being in and to every part. The United States 
" therefore will be unable to realize an}' thing for their inte- 
" rest, because they can neither convey nor give title to a single 
" separate foot of the land. 

" Still by the last article of the treaty, the United States 
"must pay that proportion of the four hundred thousand dol- 
" lars which two thousand two hundred and fifty-eight bears 
" to two thousand six hundred and thirty-three, because as to 
"the two thousand two hundred and fifty-two Indians, the 
" treaty is perfect. In other words, the United States must 
" advance the gratuities to the small bands, amounting to 
" twenty thousand dollars, and must pay about half of the 



53 

*' four hundred thousand dollars, and will have as a compen- 
" sation for these payments, a common and undivided right 
" with the Senecas, to about one half of the Green Bay lands, 
" a right of which it cannot avail itself for any useful purpose 
" whatever, while thus held in common with the Indians. 
•* On the contrary — confirm the treaty as to the Senecas, as it 
" is confirmed as to the other bands, and the right to the 
" Green Ba}^ lands becomes perfect, and the treasury will be 
" fully indemnified for all the payments required to be made 
" under the treaty. 

" Could an}^ thing more be required to show the true pecu- 
" niary interests of the United States to be favourable to the 
" confirmation of the treaty ? It was due to the territory of 
*' Wisconsin too, if within the fair exercise of the powers of the 
" senate, that these Green Bay lands within the immediate 
" neighbourhood of one of its most important trading towns, 
*' should be disencumbered and opened for a market and for 
" settlement. This was an interest of the United States 
'•which could not be disregarded, whether it was looked at 
*' in reference to the sale of our other lands there, or to our 
" duty towards the present inhabitants of that territory. 

" Last and most important. The interests of the Indians, 
"parties to the treaty. 

" In a pecuniary sense their interests are clear, strong and 
" decided. They are altogether 4,885 souls and they are to 
*' receive from the pre-emption company about $212,000 in 
" money and from the United States about $420,000 more, 
" and at their new homes, secure from the encroachments of 
" the whites 320 acres of land to each soul, man, woman and 
" child of all the bands. All this they are to have in addition 
" to the annuities which they annually receive from the United 
" States and from the state of New-York, and which are to be 
" regularly paid to them by an express stipulation of the treaty. 
" These annuities together cannot fall short of the sum of 
" $20,000 and are believed to exceed that amount. Then all, 
" or nearly all the bands, except the Senecas and Tuscaroras, 
*' have land to sell to the state of New- York, and for which by 



54 

" the long established practice of the state, they will receive 
" the full appraised value in money, or in permanent annuities 
" as they shall choose. 

" Was ever an entire community so rich as these Indians 
" will be in lands and money? Well has General Dearborn 
" said, the same liberal terms which have been offered to these 
" Indians if extended to any county in New-England, would 
" nearly depopulate it in six months. 

" If such are the clear and strong advantages to the Indians, 
" pecuniarily, from this treaty, what are they to expect from 
*' the change proposed in their physical and moral condition .'* 
" It was only necessary to look back to the days of the Ame- 
" rican revolution to answer this inquiry. Then the New- 
" York Indians were the mighty Iroquois, an enemy almost as 
" terrible to our revolutionary fathers, as the civilized enemy 
" with whom they were contending. Even in a divided state 
" and with one of their strongest bands, the Oneidas arrayed 
" upon the side of the patriots in that glorious contest, the five 
" remaining allied bands held our arms at bay for years, and 
"'rather advanced upon, than were driven from the settlements, 
" though opposed by some of our most brave and skilful gene- 
" rals. Some sixty or seventy years have passed, and now 
" the New-York Indians are the miserable scattered remnants 
"of these powerful nations, and also of the St. Regis, the 
" Stockbridge, the Brothertown and the Munsee tribes, and 
" numbering in all less than five thousand souls. Some of the 
" bands of the Six Nations have entirely disappeared, and 
" others are reduced to a few families, and have no home 
" but such as they enjoy from the generosity of their allied 
" neighbours. The same generous attachment to their race, 
" has given a home among the Six Nations to the Stockbridges 
" from Massachusetts, the Brothertowns from Rhode Island 
" and Connecticut, and the Munsees from Pennsylvania, from 
" the Wyoming country, all the remnants of once powerful 
" Indian nations driven from their lands and their homes by 
" the (to them) desolating march of civilization, and having 
"not where to rest their feet, until our faithful allies, the 



55 

*' Oneidas, tendered them a resting place and a home in their 
*' country.' 

" What has produced this startling change in these hardy chil- 
" dren of nature within the short space allotted to the life of a 
" single man ? The answer stares us in the face. Not war, nor 
" pestilence, nor famine, but the friendly touch of the white 
" man. The j^rogress not of arms against them, but of settle- 
" ments and civilization around them. Look at the Senecas. 
" They constitute a moiety of all the Indians now in New-York. 
"In the war of 1812 '15, they numbered their thousand war- 
" riors and sent them to the field led by the gallant Frasier to 
" strengthen our army upon the frontiers and within the terri- 
" tory of the enemy. Where now are those thousand warriors 
" of the Senecas ? Did that war reduce their number ? No 
" sir, peace and friendly intercourse with us has done it ; and 
" already that thousand has become reduced to four hundred, 
" if not within that number." 

" He spoke from a statement given to him by two intelligent 
" chiefs of the nation. The statement was too long to trouble 
" the senate with, but it gave a history of the perishing condi- 
" tion of that people which could not fail to move all to their 
" relief. They were perishing from their contact with the 
" whites ; while so far from improving from the civilization 
" around and among them, they are as a people, worse fed, 
" worse clad, and worse provided than they were when they 
" had never seen a white man. The labours of philanthropists 
" have been sedulously performed among portions of this tribe 
" for a series of years, without being able to arrest their down- 
*' ward and rapid march towards complete extinction. While 
" some are made wiser and better by their white associates, a 
" vastly larger number are made more idle and more vicious. 

*' The paper before him gives a description of the state of 
" society upon the BufKilo Creek reservation, produced by the 
" proximity of the large and populous town of Buffalo, which 
" cannot be read without pain and loathing. Superadded to 
" all the other vices which have never failed to be imparted 
" to the Indian from association with our cities, seduction and 



56 

prostitution of the ladian females are said to have become 
frightfully common ; and that the most dreadful of all the 
consequences of pollution of this sort, has reached the tribe 
and is rapidly spreading itself among this portion of it. 
Thus a scourge more deadly and fatal than any other which 
has ever afflicted the Indian — a scourge unknown to the In- 
dians until the white man was known, is sweeping over this 
small remnant of the once proud Seneca Nation ; sowing 
the seeds of a slow and miserable and lingering death around 
the germs of life» The statement before him expressed the 
confident belief that a majority of the children born alive in 
the nation, die within the age of twelve months, man}'- from 
exposure, from want of proper nourishment and ordinary 
comforts, from the carelessness of parents, and not a few 
from disease inherited from the mother. 
" He would not, he could not dwell upon this picture ; and 
yet there are those whose mistaken sympathy would hold 
these people where they are, to perish under the load of vice 
which surrounds them, pervades their society in every form, 
and is sweeping them into the grave with unexampled ra- 
pidity. Not so with him. He would change their condition. 
He would remove them from the contamination which sur- 
rounds and is overwhelming them. He would place them 
wdiere they may again be Indians — where they may again 
have the motives before them of ambition, of enterprise, of 
pleasure, of profit which stimulate the Indian ; and where 
secure from the encroachments of the whites, they may again 
become independent, and free, and virtuous. 
" But Mr. President, (said Mr. W.,) reject this treaty — 
combine, as you will then combine, the cupidity of the pre- 
emption company with that of the white settlers who now 
surround them and from interest resist the company and the 
execution of this treat}-, for the common object of both, is 
gain from the Indians and from their lands, and when they find 
that a division of interest defeats either, a combination may 
be easily formed which will favour both. I say accomplish 
this, and then what will be the condition of the New-York 



57 

" Indians ? How long will they be able to withstand a com- 
" bination of interests so strong and so strongly wielded ? 
*' They cannot withstand it sir ; and a few^ years will shew 
"you their history in that of the Stockbridges, the Brolher- 
" towns, and the INIunsees. They will be found miserable 
" wanderers among their red brethren in some remote parts of 
" the countr}-, without a home, or the means to procure one ; 
" without the comforts of life or provision for their future sup- 
" port ; their members but a fraction of the present popula- 
" tion ; and their last hope buried with the last council fire 
" which burned upon those reservations they have been cora- 
" pelled to abandon to their white neighbours to avoid perfect 
" extinction. 

" May I not hope I have succeeded in proving that it is 
" within the power of the senate to declare the assents of the 
•* Senecas to this treat}^ satisfactory ; and thus to save them 
" from a fate so certain and so sad ?" 

I regret that I have not been able to obtain any report of the 
speech of Senator Talmadge, another able advocate of the 
treat)'. 

The following talk of Capt. Pollard to the U. S. commissioner 
is among the senate documents, and when it is known that this 
venerable sage of more than fourscore years and the head chief 
of our nation, is as conspicuous in wisdom and virtue as in 
years, I feel confident that his views of the great interests of 
our people, cannot be unacceptable. 

" Substance of a talk delivered to the United Stales commis- 
" sioner, by Captain Pollard head chief of the Seneca Nation, 
" 26 December, 1838. 

" My friend : 

" Knowing that 3'ou arc about to leave our people and return 
" to your famil}^ I sent for yon to speak a few words before 
" you go. You are young and full of vigour and health, but I 
" am old and helpless. Time and disease have deprived mc 
*' of activity and health, and left me a feeble tottering wreck. 
8 



*' You now see me on a sick bed from which I am unable to 
"rise, and you will probably see me no more. From this 
" couch I expect to pass to the cold lifeless house of death. — 
" For a long life I have performed the duties of a fearless war- 
" rior and an honest man. My whole thoughts are upon my 
" people and their future destiny. My last prayer is for their 
" happiness and perpetuit\^ as a nation. I could not rest with- 
"out seeing you and through you speaking to my great father 
" concerning them. He is good and loves them, and will hs- 
*' ten to what I sav. 

" At the time of the first war between your people and the 
"King of England, I was a young warrior and followed the 
"councils of our chiefs. They were guided by bad men and 
" the consequences are to be lamented. All the Six Nations 
" except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were on the side of the 
" British King who lived bej/ond the salt water. They raised 
" the tomaliawk upon the colonies when they were feeble, and 
" destroyed mnn}' of your people. I remember well being at 
" Wyoming when we followed the advice of those who were 
"governed by vile passions. I was in the battles opposing 
" General Sullivan when he entered New-York from Pennsyl- 
" vania and marched to Genesee. In the valley of the Mohawk 
" and at Cherry Valley and other places, our people inflicted 
" severe blows on your people. For these causes our villages 
" and fields were laid waste and destroyed, and we lost our 
" country by the fortune of war. We were then at the mercy 
" of your people and had no homes but such as you would give 
" us. Captain Brant went to England after the close of the war, 
" and on his return I learned that he had secured a country for 
" himself and the Mohawks in Canada. The other nations who 
" had taken up arms in favourof the king, were left to seek clem- 
" ency and homes at the hands of their conquerors. Corn 
" Planter and Farmer's Brother were sent to negotiate with the 
" United States. They made a treaty which you will under- 
" stand. Although we were permitted to reside on a certain 
" tract mentioned in the treat}'", we were told that the right of soil 
" belonged to others. This I have always believed. Our wise 



' 59 

" men have always believed it. We have long known Massa- 
" chuselts and those claiming under her, had riglits to our land. 
" This has made me uneasy and unhappy. We have repea- 
" tedly admitted this Massachusetts right, and sold parts of 
" our reservations to those setting it up. Last winter when 
" Dr. Trowbridge was superintendent on the part of Massa- 
" chusetts, we parted with our right of possession to the resi- 
" due of our reservations, and unless the government approves 
" of the amended treaty as assented to by us, our children will 
"be widiout liomes. If the purchasers should not hold the 
" lands, still we shall be restless and unhappy, knowing that 
"our rights are not as perfect as those of white men. While 
" others are claiming our lands, we shall not improve and culti- 
" vate them with a light and cheerful heart. If our lands are 
" not sold, we have no guaranty that our chiefs may not sell 
" them at any day. This uncertainty in our condition depresses 
" us and destroys our industry. We shall never be contented 
" and happy until we have permanent homes and separate 
" property like the white man. To this effect our great father 
" President Munroe advised us. Experience proves that his 
" advice was good. We need homes that our cheifs cannot 
" sell ; such homes as are provided in the treaty. 

" We hstened to the advice of our father, the president, 
*' when he advised us we would better our condition and per- 
" petuate our nation by removing to the west. We have re- 
" solved to go west and settle where our homes will be our 
" own, and where we shall go be3"ond the example and advice 
" of bad men, who advise us for their own interest. They 
" love their own interest better than the}'- love us, and they 
"have tried to prevent our agreeing to the amendments to our 
" treaty. A majority of the Seneca chiefs have now signed 
" the assent. That is sufficient. All has been done consis- 
" tent with our Indian customs, which we understand better 
" than white men. Those who obey bad advisers will try to 
" mislead the president b}'- objections which are not good. 
" We who have followed the advice of the government, might 
" raise many objections against them and their conduct. We 



" could raise many good objections against them. Our pro- 
" cecdings will bear scrutiny better than theirs. The question 
" is, will the government now do what is promised in the trea- 
" ty ? What will become of us if no now homes are given 
" us? Whether it gives them or not, does not affect our ar- 
" rangement with the pre-emption purchasers. That stands 
" by itself. The other New- York Indians have secured new 
" homes, and shall we not have them also ? If the president 
" rejects our doings, what will be our fate ? We shall suffer 
" for having listened to his advice. Those who have scorned 
" to adopt his counsel will place their feet upon our necks, 
" and cjrind us into the earth. We shall suffer for takino- his 
" advice, and those who spurned it, will be our oppressors, 
*' because we were in favour of emigration. Those who have 
" refused to listen to his admonitions have done so, not because 
'* they were not good, but because they were deceived by 
" falsehearted white men. All admit we must remove soon 
" or become extinct as a nation. No one says our treaty is 
" not a good one. The sooner we go to our new homes, the 
" sooner we shall be happy. If we remain where we are, 
" we shall soon disappear like those who once resided east 
" of the Hudson river. As the treaty now stands, those who 
" wish to stay behind, can do so, and live on the lands they 
" now occupy, so long as they live.* This is what those who 
"opposed emigration last year desired. I have heard they 
" stated so in their papers at Washington. As it now stands 
" they cannot be oppressed under the treaty. I am old and 
♦* do not expect to see the new country set apart for my na- 
" tion, but those who succeed me will go there and be happy. 
" There they can raise horses and cattle almost without la- 
*' hour, and the ground is easily cultivated and produces 
" abundantly. Here our people are poor, our valuable timber 
•' is mostly gone, and we have but few fields; they are small 
" and yield us but little ; we must emigrate or we shall never 
" be prosperous and happy. It would be too great a penalty 

* This is a mistake ; an offer to this effect was made on the suggestion of General 
Dearborn, but it was rejected by the anti-emigration party. 



61 

" upon us if we have committed any error in our proceed- 
" ings, to destroy them all and ruin us forever. Let our 
" great father guide us as we do our children, and we shall 
" pursue the right path which leads to happiness. 

" I wish 3'ou to tell the president what I have said, and that 
♦' none but bad men and those who are misled, disobey his 
*' wishes. Deceptions and threats deter many from doing and 
" saying what their hearts dictate. I have nearly done. I 
" could not rest in my bed until I had said so much. I could 
" say many things more on this subject, but cannot now. 
" My limbs refuse to support me, my body is weak, and my 
" eyes are dim with age. I shall soon account to the Great 
" Spirit for what I do and say. He knows whether I speak 
*' truth. He penetrates the motives of us all. 

" You are going to your home and I do not expect to see 
" you again. My sun is almost set and darkness will soon 
" be upon me. But your sun is at its meridian. May it 
*' long shine and lead you on in happiness and prosperity. 

" Such is the prayer of Pollard. Farewell." 

With these accumulated evidences of the yet deplorable 
condition of the New- York Indians, no man whose eyes are 
not blinded to truth, can fail to perceive the urgent necessity 
of some more efficient system of measures for its melioration. 
No man whose heart is not insensible to human misery, can 
wish to withhold from them its benefits. And yet when un- 
der such a system, devised by the collected wisdom, and ba- 
sed on the ample resources of your government, the portals of 
civilization are thrown open to us, we are met at the thres- 
hold, by an organized body of christians professing to be 
friends, yet acting as enemies. The New- York Indians al- 
though exposed on all sides to extraneous influences chiefly 
exerted to subserve private views, have nevertheless succeed- 
ed in securing to themselves the advantages of the government 
system, and the Seneca tribe have at the same time eflfected 
a sale of their remaining lands, on terms incomparably more 
just and liberal than on any previous sale. The dearest in- 
terests of all demand a speedy consumation of these arrange- 



62 

ments ; yet the Society of Friends, are still obstinately 

striving to defeat them. 

The employment of donations to secure the co-operation of 

chiefs, although a necessary means of negotiating purchases of 
Indian lands, is seized on as the principal ground of their op- 
position. Now, however contrary to your notions of morali- 
ty may be this practice, you have seen that it is sanctioned 
by Indian usage, long prevailing and openly asserted, without 
contradiction, in the presence of one of the highest function- 
aries of your government and of the assembled tribes. Up- 
on what principle then of expedience, or of mercy, or even of 
sound morality, can this objection be applied to a transaction 
with Indians, which, in the language of Governor Lumpkin, 
" confers great benefits, and no injury whatever ?" and on 
which hang all their hopes of salvation. 

I have had occasion in the course of my remarks to advert 
to several circumstances, exhibiting on the part of this society, 
the most striking inconsistencies. 

I call on you to reflect whether their appeal to the house 
of representatives from the decision of a body whom they 
themselves declare to be " the highest tribunal on earth," 
can be reconciled with the sincerity of that declaration ? 
Whether their attempt to induce the interference of that 
branch of your national legislature, in order to control the 
treaty-making power belonging to the president and senate, 
be consistent with a patriotic regard to the great principles of 
your constitution ? Whether their efforts to influence legisla- 
tion on their present memorial by means of popular excite- 
ment and prejudice, be delicate or decorous. So their lavish 
praises of the great pre-emptioner, Penn, whilst at the same 
time they denounce as odious " land speculators," the pre-emp- 
tioners of the present day, who sustain towards the government 
from which they derived the pre-emptive title, and towards 
the Indians in possession, the very same relation as he did — 
their unmeasured abuse of the present pre-emptioners for hav- 
ing purchased our lands at an unfair price, when they well 
know that we are to receive for these lands, more than Penn 



63 

paid for the whole province of Pennsylvania, or Morris for the 
whole Genesee country — the opprobrious epithets which they 
apply to the " Ogden Company," for employing presents in 
order to propitiaie the influence of Indian chiefs, when it is an 
undisputed fact that similar means (except the cheap 
persuasive of " a moderate ])ortlon of 'intoxicating drink^'* 
peculiar, perhaps, to Pennsylvania,*) were employed by their 
same great exemplar and from his time down to the present 
day, have been employed by all individual pre-emptioners 
and also by the government itself — their grave quotations 
from letral authorities to show that the use of such means vi- 
tiates all purchases from Indians, whilst they complacently 
enjoy their own estates acquired in the same manner, (the re- 
collection of which, as to Morris' treaty, must be still fresh in 
the minds of the Genesee friends) without offering to restore 
these ill gotten possessions to those who, on the principle they 
assume, are still the rightful owners — and their wanton im- 
peachment of the fidelity of the United States commissioner, 
whose official conduct has met the approbation of the execu- 
tive, whose character, standing, and credit, " are vouched 
by the unanimous voice of the senate, to be * unimpeached and 
unimpeachable,' and whose ' statement of facts in all matters 
touching the execution of the treaty by the Indians,' is by 
the common assent of that body, declared to be worthy of im- 
plicit reliance — all appear to me to be alike inconsistent with 
that pure morality, that truth, candour, forbearance, and uni- 
versal good will, which the Society of Friends claim to 
be its peculiar characteristics. 

There is yet another instance of inconsistency in their con- 
duct. The public are constantly edified by yearly discourses 
from this society on the subject of negro slavery, setting forth 
its sinfulness and urging emancipation as an act of christian 
obligation. Yet how different is their conduct in regard to the 
Indian tribes in this state, of whom they profess to be the spe- 
cial protectors and who, although free in name, are more 

* See Pennsylvania laws, referred to in Governor Lumpkins' Speech ; ante, p. 39. 



64 

effectually shut out from all the privileges which render free- 
dom a blessing, than are the negroes ! The negro slave it is 
true, owes obedience to, and labours for the benefit of his mas- 
ter, but he and his children are bountifully fed and clothed, 
kindly nursed in sickness and provided for in old age. We 
are not compelled indeed to labour; but when overtaken by 
want, visited by sickness or enfeebled by old age, have no 
right to ask of white men to feed, clothe, nurse or support us. 
The negro, by a long course of voluntary exertion, may per- 
haps purchase his freedom — buy lands and dispose of them — 
and may also (in this State at least,) acquire the right of suf- 
frage and other civil rights. To us, all these privileges are 
forever denied by your laws. Negro slavery can only be 
abolished by subverting private rights, whilst national policy 
sustained by public opinion, encourages and facilitates efforts 
for Indian emanciiiation. Yet the friends plead without ceas- 
ing, the cause of the negro whilst they labour indefatigably to 
perpetuate the bondage of the Indian. 

Whence all these strange inconsistencies ? Can it be that 
this Society having (as stated in one of their memorials to the 
president,) assumed the character of " Friends and coun- 
♦' sellers to the Indians — sent agents to reside among them 
•' to instruct them in the arts of civilized life, and at great 
" expense of time and money laboured for their civilization and 
" improvement" — still, honestly believe in the superior effi- 
cacy of their own system, and so believing cannot conscien- 
tiously surrender us to the care of our legitimate guardians 
and protectors. If this be so, (and I am unwilliging to impute 
to them any worse motive) we may forgive their error, but 
cannot too deeply lament, nor too severely reprove, that pride of 
opinion — that arrogance of pretension — that inexcusable con- 
ceit, which, setting at naught the testimony of experience and 
history, the concurring opinions of successive presidents and 
heads of the Indian department, and the collective wisdom of 
congress, would lead them, on the issue of their own specu- 
lative theory already falsified by their vain experiments, to 
suspend the momentous question of our civilization — and pre- 



65 

sumptuously to incur the awful responsibility of endangering 
our everlasting destiny. 

To conclude — the Society of Friends may succeed in wrest- 
ing from us the charter of our freedom and leave us in hopeless 
dependence on the worthless charities of short-sighted enthu- 
siasts, but what, let me ask, will be to us, the consequences 
of their triumph? I put this inquiry with solemn earnest- 
ness, and again use the words of that venerated chief, whose 
impressive appeal is already before you. " The question is, 
" will the government now do what is promised in the treaty ? 
" What will become of us, if no new homes are given us ? 
" Whether it gives them or not, does not affect our arrange- 
" raent with the pre-emptive purchasers. That stands by 
*' itself The other New- York Indians have secured their new 
*' homes, and shall we not have them also ^ If the president 
" rejects our doings what will be our fate ? We shall suffer 
" for having listened to his advice. Those v/ho have scorned 
" to adopt his counsel, will place their feet upon our necks, and 
*' grind us into the earth." 

N. T. STRONG. 

New- York, 29th Janiiary, 1841. 



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